Ideas + Insights

ELECTRONIC VISIT VERIFICATION EXEMPTION REQUESTS

CMS & EVV DELAY

EVV is still one of the hottest topics in home health care, as the nation’s individual states grapple with deadlines to meet the 21^st Century Cures Act mandate. In July the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opened the flood gates to review what they’ve deemed “Good Faith” exemption requests. Since that effort began, state associations like the New Jersey Homecare & Hospice Association have cited undue burdens and agency unpreparedness to petition for extensions. Some states have already implemented EVV, but a number of other states have requested delays ranging from 6 months to two years. Home Health Software providers, as well as stand-alone EVV system providers continue to work with state associations, CMS, and individual agencies to facilitate a smooth transition towards electronic visit verification compliance.

Choosing EVV Software

As the 21^st Century Cures act moves to the forefront of home health agency staffs, many agencies find themselves trying to prepare for the inevitable. According to their official website www.medicaid.gov, all U.S states are required by law to implement an approved electronic visit verification system for all Medicaid-funded personal care services by January 1, 2020, and home health care services by January 1, 2023. Any non-compliant states will face financial penalties unless they have an authentic delay reason or burden which prevented their compliance.   

January 2020 OASIS-D Changes

OASIS-D to OASIS-D1 Information

Home Health Blog

OASIS-D is the current version of the OASIS data set. It was implemented on January 1, 2019. OASIS-D introduces new standardized items to support measurement domains mandated by the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation (IMPACT) Act of 2014. New items were also added for standardization to align with assessment sets for other post-acute care settings. Several items were also removed to reduce provider and patient burden. OASIS-D was approved by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) on December 6, 2018, with an intended expiration date of 12/31/2021.

Care Plan Oversight Often Overlooked

Home Health Blog

Care Plan Oversight (CPO) is often overlooked as a revenue source for physicians. CPO is the physician supervision of patients under either the home health or hospice benefit where the patient requires complex or multi-disciplinary care requiring ongoing physician involvement.