Industry Insights

As the population ages and the demand for hospice and palliative care grows, hospice agencies are faced with regulation changes as the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) aim to create a care continuum focused on value-based care.

With PDPM and PDGM already implemented in the connected spaces of long-term care and home health, hospice agencies should be sensing greater change on the horizon. Monitoring 2019 industry topics and trends predicted to impact hospice agencies in 2020 is the first step to get ahead and stay ahead of the competition.

In this detailed report, Catherine Dehlin, RN, BSN, CHPN, CHCM, COQS, Director of Hospice and Palliative Services for Fazzi Associates, breaks down some of the biggest trends that hospice agencies will face in 2020.

Download this free white paper to learn:

• How pending federal legislation will impact agencies
• Why new assessment tools will be used and how they will impact every facet of the industry
• What factors are impacting the financial outlook of the hospice market

For years the base-payment rate for the level of care provided by hospice agencies has remained unscathed by large-scale adjustments. After identifying misalignment through regulation changes, CMS realized something needed be done to help create payment accuracy.

To better align base-payment rates, the CMS 2020 hospice final rule includes a significant rebasing of hospice payment rates. In this free white paper, Catherine Dehlin, RN, BSN, CHPN, CHCM, COQS, Director of Hospice and Palliative Care Services at Fazzi Associates, explains the history of hospice rebasement and how the new alignments can impact your agency.

Download the free white paper to learn:

• Why realignment of hospice repayment was needed
• How repayments have changed
• How your hospice agency will be affected
• What your agency should do to lessen the financial impacts of these changes

The 2020 PPS final rule was posted to the Federal Register confirming plans to implement the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) beginning January 1, 2020.

The good news is that CMS has cut back on plans to implement an 8.01% decrease in agencies’ payments. Instead, they are finalizing a 4.36% decrease based on assumed behavioral changes and have made some other small revisions. Most other updates, including the elimination of therapy thresholds as a factor of payment, the move from 60 day episodes to 30 day payment periods, and the factors determining case-mix and clinical groups will remain the same. Agencies can click here to review the final rule.

Join Fazzi for a free webinar session where we will:

• Review key concepts as described in the final rule with Fazzi expert Gina Mazza, MBA, RN, BSN, Senior VP of Quality and Compliance, as she discusses finalized guidance regarding PDGM.
• Provide participants with concrete strategies to prepare for PDGM and be ready for implementation on January 1st.
• Hear from one agency as they discuss what their organization is doing now to prepare and services they are using to ensure they are PDGM ready on day 1.

The Home Health Compare results were updated on October 30, 2019.

For the Quality of Patient Care measures, 10 measures improved and 4 remained the same. Improvement in management of oral medications saw the most improvement of 0.9% and improvement in bed transfer improved by 0.8%. (Data Collection January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018).

Acute care hospitalizations and urgent, unplanned care in the emergency room both improved at 15.6% and 12.8%. (Data Collection January 1, 2018 – December 31, 2018).

The national average for the Quality of Patient Care Star Rating remained the same at 3.5 stars.

HHCAHPS measures also updated and the national averages remain the same for all 5 measures. The data collection period for these measures and the Star Ratings is April 1, 2018 – March 31, 2019.

To see where the 5 star agencies are located, visit our Home Health Compare page and use the drop down for Star Ratings at the agency level. You can also compare measures by state, by year, by release date, and the top 10 or top 20 percent.

Coding is one of the most important aspects of your agency’s operations. Errors in coding can cause delays in reimbursement, or worse – denials. Reimbursements are the key to financial stability, and this stability allows you to deliver care at the highest levels.

Fazzi has partnered with WellSky to present this free webinar.

As the regulatory scrutiny of hospice care continues to intensify, Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) are identifying hospices for Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) in record numbers. While the Targeted Probe and Educate program is intended to impact providers (and ultimately patient) in positive ways, these reviews can be time consuming, challenging, and stressful for hospice leaders. How will you prepare if your hospice is identified for a TPE?

In this important 60-minute presentation, Catherine Dehlin, RN, BSN, CHPN, CHCM, Director of Hospice, will help you understand TPE and learn how to get the most out of this important process.

Attend and learn:

• The rationale and objectives of TPE in hospice
• The typical TPE process for most MACs and the ideal response for hospice providers
• The aspects of hospice performance that agency leaders should monitor regularly

Don’t miss this opportunity for you and your team to learn from one of hospice’s most influential thought leaders!

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