August 5, 2020
By Mark Spivey CMS Finalizes Payment Rules for IPFs, SNFs, Hospices
Federal officials seek enhancements to the Medicare program through payment realignment. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized Medicare rules adjusting payments for three types of providers: inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs), skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), and hospices. First, the CMS final rule applying to IPFs issued last…
August 29, 2019
By Chuck Buck Hospice Payments Drawing Scrutiny from Feds
HHS OIG uncovered irregularities in 2016 reimbursements. Payments for hospice services were in the news this week, with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) reporting that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) had repeatedly paid twice for such services during…
November 2, 2017
By Juliet B. Ugarte Hopkins, MD, CHCQM-PHYADV Palliative Care and Hospice: Case Managers Face Haunting Challenges
Case managers and physicians approach palliative care from different perspectives. There are many staffing models for case managers. A number of years ago, the trend leaned toward combining the activities of discharge planning and utilization instead of employing two individuals to look at the same chart. Recently, the pendulum appears…
August 17, 2017
By Chuck Buck CMS Unveils New Hospice Compare Website
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled the new Hospice Compare website on Wednesday. According to CMS, the site displays information in a ready-to-use format and provides a snapshot of the quality of care each hospice facility offers to its patients. In its announcement Wednesday, CMS said the Hospice…
July 19, 2017
By Michael A. Salvatore, MD, FACP Carving Up the Hospice Pie: Out, In, and In and Out
According to Patti Smith, the American laureate of punk rock, “You can't carve up the world. It's not a pie.” Perhaps you cannot carve up the world but Medicare has proposed carving up—or more accurately, carving in—the hospice pie to Medicare Advantage (MA) programs. To appreciate the potential import of…