By Kim Banker December 20, 2024
Recognizing the Importance of Oral Meds

As we draw closer to 2025, have you considered the huge impact Improvement in Management of Oral Medications (Oral Meds) will have in the upcoming year? Oral Meds play an integral part in all Home Health Quality Programs (HHQRP). Let’s break down each one and discuss best practices to ensure accuracy.

Home Health
December 18, 2024
New CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey Crosswalk Guide Released

Hospice agencies nationwide are navigating significant updates to the CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey, and we’re here to help. Introducing the CAHPS-Hospice Satisfaction Survey Crosswalk Guide, a pivotal resource designed to simplify these changes and support your quality improvement efforts. This guide breaks down the latest CMS updates, offering clear explanations to help your team better understand the adjustments and align your processes accordingly. By leveraging this resource, you will improve survey comprehension and equip your team to refine care strategies based on actionable insights.

Hospice
December 13, 2024
Introducing the HIS to HOPE Crosswalk Guide

The shift from the HIS to the HOPE assessment brings important changes for hospice agencies, and we’re here to ensure your team is prepared. We’re proud to announce the release of the HIS to HOPE Crosswalk Guide, a vital resource designed to facilitate a smooth and confident transition. This comprehensive guide provides a detailed side-by-side comparison of HIS and HOPE assessment items, highlighting key updates and timelines. By using this resource, your agency can enhance accuracy, streamline processes, and uphold the highest standards of care—all while maintaining compliance with the new requirements.

Hospice
By Dahlia Kroth November 06, 2024
Facility Assessments Webinar Summary

This blog post is a summary of our industry topic webinar, 'The Facility Assessment: Meeting the Challenge.' Continue reading for additional resources and a link to the video. Facility assessments are critical in the healthcare industry, especially in light of recent regulatory changes. These assessments play a significant role in ensuring that healthcare facilities meet the needs of their residents while adhering to industry standards.

Skilled Nursing
October 03, 2024
SHP Clients Earn 203 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Awards in 2024

The 2024 AHCA/NCAL National Quality Award Program recipients have been announced and we are extremely pleased to congratulate the 203 SHP clients who received the award this year.

Skilled Nursing
By Greg Seiple August 16, 2024
Understanding How the Discharge Function Score is Calculated: A Simple Guide

When a resident is preparing to leave a skilled nursing facility, healthcare professionals use something called the Discharge Function Score to gauge how well they’ll manage on their own. This score is crucial because it helps determine the level of support or care the resident might need after they leave. But how exactly is this score calculated? Let’s break it down in simple terms.

Skilled Nursing
July 24, 2024
SHP Announces 2023 Best-of-the-Best Winners

The annual SHPBest™ award program was created to recognize home health and hospice providers that consistently provide outstanding performance in patient and caregiver satisfaction. SHP would like to congratulate the 2023 SHP Best-of-the-Best winners, who have been acknowledged for achieving the highest overall HHCAHPS patient satisfaction or CAHPS Hospice caregiver satisfaction scores of all eligible SHP clients during the 2023 calendar year.

Home Health , Hospice ,
By Kim Banker July 24, 2024
Breaking Down Discharge Function Score (DFS) for Home Health

With the new Discharge Function Score measure now included in SHP reports, many have asked “What do we do at the agency level?” One of the most impactful things you can do is to educate your staff about the new measure. In order to understand why DFS is important, let them know it’s a part of Home Health Value Based Purchasing (HHVBP). A simplified way of educating your staff about HHVBP is to explain that reimbursement is tied to the quality of care we provide to our patients. DFS accounts for a significant amount weighing in at 20%.

Home Health
By Chris Attaya June 26, 2024
Initial Medicare FFS Telehealth Insights

On July 1st, 2023 CMS began requiring home health agencies to document their utilization of telehealth services on their Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) claims. As finalized in the CY 2023 Home Health Payment System Rate Update, agencies are responsible to identify one of three services they provide using new Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) codes. These codes are added as a separate visit line on the claim based on the date each service is provided. CMS notes in the rule that these services are for reporting only, since CMS does not reimburse for these services. The HCPCS codes are:

Home Health , In the Press ,
By Chris Attaya March 28, 2024
PDGM after 4 years – No Big Surprises

Now that CY 2023 is closed and we await the CMS CY 2025 proposed rule for home health, it is an opportune time to revisit the data trends in the Patient Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) by leveraging SHP national benchmarks. Delving into these insights, one can discern intriguing patterns that have emerged over the years. To no one’s surprise, Home Health Agency (HHA) Medicare visits per 30-day period have continued to decrease over the first four years of PDGM.

Home Health
By Greg Seiple February 02, 2024
Revised PBJ methodology and rules impact: Do you know the risks?

Since the advent of Payroll Based Journal (PBJ) reporting by CMS in 2016, facilities have struggled with preparing and submitting accurate PBJ data. Penalties applied for a failure to submit complete and accurate data can result in defaulting to a one-star rating and negatively impacting overall 5-star ratings.

Skilled Nursing
By Chris Attaya January 16, 2024
OASIS-E1 Instrument is Released with Little Fanfare

In the first week of January 2024, CMS quietly announced the release of the latest draft of OASIS version E1. The subdued announcement can be attributed to the limited updates planned for the tool, set to take effect on January 1, 2025. CMS has mentioned that the accompanying OASIS-E1 manual will be made available at a later date.

Home Health