CMS has extended its Provisional Period of Enhanced Oversight (PPEO) and its Expanded Prepayment Review (EPR) enforcement efforts to Georgia and Ohio. The enhanced enforcement efforts can lead to the revocation of a hospice’s Medicare billing privileges, termination of Medicare/Medicaid enrollment, and/or the prepayment review of 100% of a hospice’s claims.
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a Proposed Rule that, if finalized, would extend the application of the “36-Month Rule” from home health agencies (“HHAs”) to also include hospice agencies as well.
Workplace violence has become a hot topic in today’s discourse; however, workplace violence is not just headline fodder for media outlets. The trend is well-documented and especially felt by the healthcare industry which continues to experience the brunt after the onslaught of COVID-19. In 2018, 73% of all nonfatal workplace violence incidents involved healthcare workers. A late 2020 survey reported that 20% of nurses reported they were facing an increase in workplace violence after the COVID-19 pandemic began. Another study reported a 14.6% increase in workplace violence at New Jersey hospitals over the prior three years.
Each July, the Medicare Administrative Contractors issue notices of a 2% Medicare payment reduction to those providers who did not meet quality data reporting requirements. Those notices have been sent. In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske and Jacob Harris talk about the issues providers faced in 2021 and how to pursue an appeal of
As many hospices continue to diversify into new business lines, staying abreast of enforcement trends outside of hospice is more important than ever. Home health in particular, is receiving significant government scrutiny. In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske talks with Bryan Nowicki and Erin Burns about a new round of home health audits being
Hospice Audit Series
Audits are a fact of life for hospices—it’s not a matter of “if” a hospice will be audited, but “when.” The alphabet soup of audits has expanded, from UPICs to SMRCs, CPIs, TPEs and more. With the hospice carve-in to Medicare Advantage, MAO audits will join the list. The recent pause in audits as a result of the COVID pandemic hints at increased activity as the pandemic wanes. In this series, Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki of Husch Blackwell’s Hospice Audit team deconstruct the most recent developments in hospice audits, providing insight and guidance on the why, when and how of audits and—most importantly—what hospices can do about it.
Throughout the COVID pandemic, healthcare employers have navigated the challenge of balancing safety concerns with employee requests for religious exemption from the vaccine. Since lifting the stay of the CMS rule requiring certain healthcare workers to receive a COVID-19 vaccine, the US Supreme Court (Court) has refused to enjoin state and city vaccine mandates for workers who seek religious exemptions from such mandates. On March 7, 2022, the full Court rejected, without comment, an emergency application for an injunction that was previously denied by Justice Sotomayor to prevent enforcement of the New York City Department of Education’s COVID-19 mandate against suspended workers who refused vaccination based on religion. In the wake of continued challenges to vaccine mandates based on religion, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (“EEOC”), released guidance on March 1, 2022 that addresses questions related to religious objections to vaccinations in the workplace. Healthcare employers should ensure that assessment of requests for religious exemptions for vaccine mandates comports with EEOC guidance.
Welcome to an inspiring conversation on how story can help us reconnect with mission, staff and communities. As hospices face unprecedented staffing shortages and a burnt-out workforce, a key to thriving may be to re-engage with our human essence, which can be found through story. Today’s guest, Dr. Bertice Berry, PhD, explains humans are hardwired for story—it is how we connect, reflect and grow. So how do we use storytelling as a leadership tool? The Institute for Story’s upcoming conference on Advancing the Science of Story and Storytelling intends to help leaders do just that.
For many healthcare employers, phase one and phase two COVID-19 vaccine deadlines are either here or quickly approaching. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), in an exercise of enforcement discretion, has begun monitoring covered CMS provider and supplier types for implementation of COVID-19 staff vaccination requirements in accordance with the COVID-19 Healthcare Staff Vaccination
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently announced that its 2022 work plan for hospices will include a nationwide review of hospice beneficiary eligibility. In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki discuss what led to this latest effort by the OIG, what hospices can expect and what they should do. Listen today: