Issue date: May 14th, 2021

Hello, everyone!

We celebrated National Nurses Week May 6-12, 2021. Amity Healthcare Group would like to thank ALL NURSES for their hard work, dedication, compassion, and care!

Here are some home health related updates for this week:

NATIONAL NEWS

Home Health Emergency Access to Telehealth (HEAT) Act

On April 22, 2021, a bipartisan group of U.S. Senators re-introduced legislation to provide reimbursement to providers for telehealth services in the Medicare Home Health benefit. The HEAT Act is supported by Senators Susan Collins (R-ME) and Ben Cardin (D-MD) teamed up to lead the original version introduced in 2020. For the 117th Congress Senators Collins and Cardin are joined by Senators Roger Marshall (R-KS) and Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH).

The new legislation calls for permitting CMS the authority to issue a waiver that would allow for telehealth visits to count towards in-person visits, as included on the plan of care, in the event of a public health emergency (PHE). To ensure protection against fraudulent and improper activities, there may be additional requirements for patient consent for telehealth services, as well as a requirement that telehealth visits can comprise of no more than half of all visits. The bill will also require a pre-existing relationship between the patient and ordering physician for the patient to be eligible to receive reimbursable telehealth services.

To show your support and advocacy for the HEAT Act, please go to https://p2a.co/lYv8A41 and send email to your officials.

Home Health Notice of Admission (NOA)

CMS has issued Change Request 12256 that outlines the Claims Processing Manual changes for the Notice of Admission for home health agencies.

Starting January 1, 2022, Medicare regulation requires replacing RAP submissions for every period with a one-time Notice of Admission (NOA). NOA submission criteria will require Home Health Agencies having a verbal or written order from the physician that contains the services required for the initial visit, and that the Agency has conducted an initial visit at the start of care. There will be a non-timely submission reduction in payment amount tied to any late submission of NOAs when the Agency does not submit the NOA within 5 calendar days from the start of care. That is, if the Agency failed to submit a timely NOA, the reduction in payment amount would be equal to a 1⁄30th reduction to the wage-adjusted 30-day period payment amount for each day from the home health start of care date until the date the Agency submitted the NOA.

For a complete  Change Request  addressing the subject of replacing Home Health Requests for Anticipated Payment (RAPs) with a Notice of Admission (NOA) — Manual Instructions, please go to: https://www.cms.gov/files/document/r10758cp.pdf

Quarter I, 2021 OASIS Q&A

CMS issued Q1,21 OASIS Q&A. Please go to https://drive.google.com/file/d/1gj_1pmCUpexIbexrCQlqZ4xrrAvQKS-v/view to review a complete list of questions and answers.

Part A Cost Reports Webcast

If you missed webcast on the Medicare Part A Cost Report e-Filing system on April 29, 2021, you can now access the audio recording (ZIP) and transcript (PDF) of the webcast on Medicare Learning Network.

COLORADO NEWS

Listening Sessions on CAPS Checks

The Colorado Department of Human Services, Adult Protective Services (APS) program would like to invite Colorado providers to attend one of two listening sessions regarding House Bill  21-1123 (HB21-1123), CAPS Checks for Substantiated Mistreatment. This bill is with the governor for his signature and, if signed into law, would add a requirement for the district and probate courts in Colorado to request a CAPS check for any person who might be appointed as a guardian or conservator of an at-risk adult. The bill would also require APS to share information on substantiated findings of abuse, neglect, exploitation, and harmful acts with the Department of Regulatory Agencies (DORA) if the person who caused the mistreatment is a licensed healthcare professional, such as a nurse, doctor, or certified nurse’s aide.

The bill will also  require  an employer and an employee to provide, upon request of a county department of human or social services and for the purposes of an investigation into an allegation of mistreatment, access to the professional license number issued by DORA for the employee who, as a result of the investigation, is substantiated in a case of mistreatment of an at-risk adult.

The listening session is an opportunity to learn more about the bill and how it will change the law. A representative from DORA and from Judicial committee will be joining APS on the calls to answer any questions you may have of them.

It is recommended to review the House Bill 21-1123 prior to attending the listening session. For a full text of HB 21-1123, please go to: https://leg.colorado.gov/bills/hb21-1123

9 a.m., Wednesday, May 19: Join with Google Meet:  meet.google.com/wim-xujr-tib OR call  +1 415-841-2078 PIN: ‪377 461 687#

1 p.m., Wednesday, May 19: Join with Google Meet:  meet.google.com/jhm-ntkq-tnu OR call  +1 414-909-7437 PIN: ‪198 183 027#

Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Home Health Care Agencies in Colorado

Fourth year medical student at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, Nick Bianchina, along with Dr. Kristin Jensen, Dr. Alan Prochazka, and Dr. Christine Jones, are conducting a survey examining the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on home health care agencies in Colorado.

The goal of this study is to understand the impact of this pandemic on home health care services with an effort to identify processes agencies may use to better plan for such an event in the future.

For more information and to participate in the survey, click here.

Amity’s Friday emails (newsletters) will be archived on Amity’s Healthcare Group website at https://amityhealthcaregroup.com/resources/  under Weekly Newsletter section.

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