The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has identified an issue related to missing discharge assessments for inactive residents. On August 23, 2013, CMS issued a survey and certification memorandum
On August 2, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the 2014 IPPS Final Rule. In the final rule, CMS made a few revisions from the proposed rule related to the Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) calculation
On Tuesday, July 3, 2013, the U.S. Department of the Treasury announced that the mandate requiring certain employers to provide health coverage to their employees or pay fines has been delayed until 2015. The Affordable Care Act (ACA), signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, mandated various responsibilities of employers.
On May 9, 2013, the Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) Open Door Forum announced upcoming updates to the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) manual. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the new RAI manual version 1.10 and change tables on May 20
Effective May 19, 2013, skilled nursing facility (SNF) providers will have more leeway in the minimum data set (MDS) 3.0 assessment correction policy. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the revision to Chapter 5 of the Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User’s Manua l for the MDS 3.0 during the May 2, 2013, Open Door Forum. The current correction policy in Chapter 5 of the RAI manual, “Submission and Correction of the MDS Assessments,” will only allow facilities to inactivate an assessment if an error is discovered in the following items: A0200 – Type of Provider A0310 – Type of Assessment A1600 – Entry Date (on an entry tracking record) A2000 – Discharge Date (on a discharge/death in facility record) A2300 – Assessment Reference Date (ARD) For SNFs completing Medicare prospective payment system (PPS) assessments, the current policy results in default billing, as the ARD of the new assessment must be no earlier than the date the error was identified
On April 5, 2013, the IRS issued proposed regulations for compliance with the community health needs assessment (CHNA) requirements under Internal Revenue Code Section 501(r)(3) for hospitals exempt from taxation under Section 501(c)(3).
The long-term care (LTC) mergers and acquisitions (M&A) market had an outstanding year in 2012, generating 189 deals worth $9.2 billion. The high transaction volume for the year makes 2012 the most active year in LTC M&A since the late 1990s, with approximately 60 percent more transactions than the annual average over the previous four years.
On March 1, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released Change Request 8214, which outlines rules related to the extension of the Low Volume Adjustment (LVA) and Medicare Dependent Hospital (MDH) regulations, as authorized by the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 . The Federal Register notification related to these extensions, CMS 1588-N, was released on March 4, 2013, and officially published March 7, 2013. Hospitals will need to move quickly to take full advantage of the LVA extension, and they may be surprised by some of the requirements of the MDH extension
The results of recent recovery audit contractor (RAC) automated reviews of hospital services were outlined in the January 2013 Medicare Quarterly Provider Compliance Newsletter, Volume 3, Issue 2 . Among the hot topics discussed was a significant issue for physician providers: the RACs identified that inappropriate current procedural terminology (CPT) codes were being assigned for related professional evaluation and management (E/M) services “rendered in swing bed facilities (with nursing facility levels of care)” in the same episode of care as an acute inpatient stay, when the patient was not “on a leave of absence from the hospital.” Specifically, inpatient hospital CPT codes, i.e
The last day of the 90-day reporting period for the 2012 program year for an Eligible Professional (EP) was December 31, 2012. The EP’s payment year runs on a calendar year instead of the federal fiscal year like the Eligible Hospital’s (EH) payment year. The last day of the EH’s 90-day reporting period for the 2013 program year will be September 30, 2013.