The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) went into law and its purpose states, “to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the health care system. This included administrative provisions that required Health and Human Services (HHS) to
Category: Compliance
Working in Silos: The 3 Lives of a Cancer Patient
Working in Silos: The Three Lives of a Cancer Patient This is a story of an extremely active seventy-year-old man who was diagnosed with tonsil cancer that produced a tumor in his neck. This man volunteers 40 hours a week
What is the Patients Over Paperwork Program?
Several of our clinical teams recently experienced something new…CMS representatives arrived at their facility to assess compliance with a new initiative Patients Over Paperwork. In preparation for this process, review the following information, taken directly from www.cms.gov What is
Medicare Part B Therapy Caps Repealed!
February 9, 2018 was a historical day: for over twenty years, providers have been advocating for Medicare Part B beneficiaries to receive medically necessary therapy services that exceed a capped amount! Our voices were heard, and the President signed the
Pathways to Fall Prevention
Pathways to Fall Prevention is Functional Pathways’ program that partners with interdisciplinary team members in nursing facilities to provide individualized, person-centered care, and improve fall care processes and outcomes. Many facilities have fall programs in place and while not all
Patient Safety: Always in the Forefront
Post Acute Care is obliged to deliver care that provides better outcomes, in a shorter period of time, all the while ensuring that patient safety is in the forefront. We are responsible for increasing efficiencies without sacrificing safety. There are
2018 Medicare Part B “Hard Cap”
As you probably already know, there is a Medicare Part B “Hard Cap” that went into effect 1/1/18 because Congress didn’t act to extend the exceptions process nor did they repeal the therapy caps altogether. As a result, residents receiving
Changes to Therapy CPT Codes Effective Jan 2018
Therapists will be seeing some changes in CPT codes. These changes are outlined below. ORTHOTICS AND PROSTHETICS: The CPT Editorial Panel revised the set of codes physical and occupational therapists use to report orthotic and prosthetic interventions by differentiating between
Implementing an Effective Compliance Program
Compliance — it is every provider and employee’s responsibility! So what exactly is a Compliance Program? A compliance program is a system of policies, procedures and processes developed by a provider to ensure observance with and conformity to all applicable
Payment Use File Tips
What rhymes with “PUF”? Bluff, cuff, gruff, rough, stuff, snuff, tough to name a few. How does rhyming a word relate to therapy compliance? When you read the title, and read the word “PUF”, ‘puff’ is probably what came to mind.