New PEPPER Retrieval Maps are Available Now
From the RELI Group: “PEPPER is an educational tool that summarizes provider-specific data statistics for Medicare services that may be at risk for improper payments. Providers can use the data …
Four Times as Many Medicare Advantage Plans Offer Palliative Care in 2020 than in 2019
Duke University’s Margolis Center for Health Policy has released a new study examining all the latest changes in supplemental benefits offered by Medicare Advantage Plans. Key among the changes is …
Hospice Provider Preview Reports – Two Weeks Left to Review!
From CMS: Hospice provider preview reports and Hospice CAHPS Survey provider preview reports have been updated and are now available. These two separate reports are available in your CASPER non-validation …
Alpha Test for the Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) Assessment Instrument
From CMS’ Open Door Forum: “Abt Associates is currently recruiting hospice providers to participate in a field test (called an alpha test) of the new hospice patient assessment instrument, titled …
The Hospice Medicare Advantage Carve-In Moves Forward
CMS has released a fact sheet about VBID which, among many changes, includes the Medicare Advantage Carve-In Demonstration for hospice. From CMS: CY 2021 VBID Request for Applications CMS is …
Frequently Asked Questions on the New Hospice Outcomes & Patient Evaluation (HOPE) Tool
CMS has posted two documents that articulate key information about efforts to develop a new patient assessment tool for hospice to be proposed in future rulemaking. The Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) …
Hospice Provider Preview Reports Now Available
From CMS: Hospice provider preview reports and Hospice CAHPS Survey provider preview reports have been updated and are now available. These two separate reports are available in your CASPER non-validation …
MedPAC Recommends a 20% Reduction to the Hospice Aggregate Payment Cap
At MedPAC’s most recent meeting, it was revealed that they are recommending a 20% reduction to the Hospice Aggregate Payment Cap. MedPAC has pursued similar proposals in the past. Today, …
Hospice Nurses Often Fail to Meet the 14 Day Supervisory Visit Requirement
A new report from OIG found that RNs frequently do not visit Medicare beneficiaries’ homes every 14 days as required by law. OIG evaluated 189,000 high-risk registered nurse visit date-pairs from …
Stay on Target with the Hospice Comprehensive Assessment Measure
CMS has posted a document that articulates key information about the Hospice Comprehensive Assessment Measure. This one pager provides a visual to understand how the seven HIS measures contribute to …