There is an intrinsic connection between human beings and animals. During the course of our lives many of us experience the love of a wonderful pet. When a person is placed in long term care, often the family pet must
Month: August 2013
FY 2014: Co-Treatment Minutes
In the outpatient therapy world as well as the SNF therapy world, we have been used to change! We don’t wonder when there will be changes, we wonder what the changes will be! We are not in the land of Oz….we
Therapy Cap in 2012
CMS is targeting outpatient therapy providers that stopped therapy services just under the therapy cap. More than 350 therapy providers will receive letters from CMS’ review contractor, Strategic Health Solutions to review claims from August 2012 through March 2013. Through CMS’
Explore The Next Generation Of Coding!
Are you sick and tired of me talking about changes that aren’t going to happen for a while? If you recall, I was blogging about G-Codes and Severity Modifiers seven months before it was even mandatory. But if you know
BROAD BRUSH STROKES GIVE INACCURATE IMPRESSION
By now most of you have heard about the PBS program Frontline and its look at Emeritus, the nation’s largest assisted living company. The piece focused on several deaths that have occurred at Emeritus. These deaths are tragic and without
What’s Happening On The Regulatory Front!!
Final FY 2014 Inpatient Payment Rules Readmissions Reduction Program In October 2012, Medicare began encouraging to hospitals with excess 30-day readmissions to lower 30-day readmission rates for heart attack, heart failure, and pneumonia patients by reducing a portion of the
CMS Finalizes Fiscal Year 2014
On July 31, 2013, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule [CMS-1446-F] outlining fiscal year (FY) 2014 Medicare payment rates for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). The major provisions of the final rule are summarized below.