Hospice Insights Podcast: What’s the Latest on UPICs? Highlights from Recent Audit Activity, Part I
Hospice Insights Podcast - Stories of Successful Hospice Leadership: The CEO and Chief Medical Officer Relationship
Hospice Insights Podcast - A Rise in Medicare Deactivations: Tips for Avoiding This Financial Pain
AGG Talks: Home Health & Hospice Podcast - Episode 5: Understanding Palliative Care: Strategies for Compliance and Reimbursement
Hospice Insights: Check the Mail: Are You Getting a 4% Rate Cut?
Hospice Labor and Employment Trends - Get Up to Speed Fast: What You Need to Know About the New Rules Involving Non-Competes and Exempt Employees
AGG Talks: Home Health & Hospice - Lessons Learned From ALJ Hospice Audit Appeals
Hospice Insights Podcast - A Refresh: What’s New in the New OIG General Compliance Program Guidance
Hospice Insights Podcast - Deal Breakers: Identifying Key Issues Early in Member Substitutions
A Command Performant(s): RAC Audits on the Rise
The TPE Carousel. . . Around and Around We Go
A Fond Farewell: Musings on the End of the Medicare Advantage Hospice Carve-In Demonstration
OMG. . .The OIG is at it Again
How One Hospice Owner Got Convicted of Healthcare Fraud and How You Can Avoid That Fate
Hospice and Home Health Survey Perspectives: A Conversation with Kim Skehan, VP of Accreditation at CHAP
Year in Review: Key Regulatory Updates in 2023
An Alternative to Consolidations: Key Considerations for Management Services Organizations
Stories of Successful Hospice Leadership: The CEO and Compliance Officer Relationship
A Very “Special” Episode: Amid Controversy, CMS Launches the Hospice Special Focus Program
Grace from CMS: Unexpected Good News on HIS and CAHPS Appeals
UPIC activity is picking up, and the UPICs are reviving some old tactics. In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki discuss these trends which include extrapolation, Medicaid nursing home room and...more
News Briefs - Physicians Responsible for Meeting CMS Information Blocking Rules - The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology issued a final rule that...more
I. Certificate of Need Program - A. Contested Case: AL2023-022, Affinity Orthopaedic ASC, LLC, Jefferson County, AL: Proposes to develop an ambulatory surgery center (ASC) concentrating on orthopaedic surgery on the...more
Below is Alston & Bird’s Health Care Week in Review, which provides a synopsis of the latest news in health care regulations, notices, and guidance; federal legislation and congressional committee action; reports, studies,...more
In this episode, AGG Post-Acute & Long-Term Care co-chair Jason Bring is joined by AGG Healthcare attorney Charmaine Mech to discuss the latest developments in the palliative care industry across the country. Jason and...more
It’s that time of year again when HIS and CAHPS non-compliance letters are sent out. While it can be an uphill battle, all may not be lost if you receive a notice of non-compliance. Join Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske as she...more
News Briefs - Appeals Court Rules Drug Firms Can Limit 340B Discounted Drugs - An appeals court has upheld a lower court ruling on 340B that sided with drug manufacturers. At issue is whether pharmaceutical companies can...more
News Briefs - Biden Places New Tariffs on Chinese Medtech Product Imports - The Biden administration announced its plan to increase tariffs on Chinese-made medical supplies as part of a broader push to tax imports from the...more
As member substitutions become an increasingly common method of affiliation for nonprofit hospices, hospices may encounter various opportunities for affiliation. Join Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske and Adam Royal as they...more
I. Certificate of Need Program - A. Contested Case - AL2023-021, Affinity Hospital, LLC d/b/a Grandview Medical Center, Hoover, AL: Proposes to establish a Freestanding Emergency Department (FED) in the city of Hoover,...more
Introduction - Polsinelli proudly introduces the Health Care Fraud and Abuse 2023 Year in Review, a comprehensive examination of the evolving landscape surrounding the False Claims Act (“FCA”) and fraud & abuse enforcement...more
I. Certificate of Need Program - A. Project Modification Request - AL2022-009, East Alabama Health Care Authority d/b/a East Alabama Medical Center (EAMC), Lee County, AL: The project modification request involves a...more
In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske is joined by friend and industry veteran Kim Skehan. In this wide-ranging conversation, they explore not only the recent survey reforms but the ways in which Kim’s decades of...more
The hospice industry saw many regulatory changes in 2023. In this episode of Hospice Insights: The Law and Beyond, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske, Andrew Brenton, and Adam Royal discuss some of the main regulatory changes...more
An effective compliance program is the bedrock of any successful healthcare organization and behind every successful compliance program is a trusted relationship between the Compliance Officer and CEO. In this episode, Husch...more
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) devised a “Special Focus Program” to identify poor performing hospices and help them improve through more frequent surveys and technical assistance. CMS would also impose...more
For a variety of unfortunate reasons, some hospices found themselves facing a 4% rate reduction for non-compliance with either Hospice Item Set (HIS) or Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers & Systems (CAHPS)...more
I. Certificate of Need Program - A. AL2023-014, Medplex Outpatient Surgery Center, Ltd., Hoover, AL: Proposes to relocate the existing facility by constructing a new ambulatory surgery center (ASC) approximately two (2)...more
CMS has criticized hospices for underutilizing general inpatient care (GIP) but has also specifically targeted GIP claims for audit and medical review. In addition to CMS’s standard tools for reviewing GIP claims, such as...more
While not new, the number and scope of Targeted Probe and Educate (TPE) reviews have soared to new heights. At the same time, more hospices are facing the uncomfortable position of moving to a second and sometimes third round...more
In the midst of consolidation and restructuring among hospices, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is scrutinizing initial enrollments and changes in ownership and management. In this episode, Husch...more
Recently the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) announced in a newly released MedLearn Matter (MLN7867599, July 2023) that effective as of July 13, 2021, any “new hospice agency” located in the states of Texas,...more
I. Certificate of Need Program A. A. AL2023-013, Birmingham Operations, LLC d/b/a Harmony at Birmingham, Trussville, AL: Proposes to construct and operate a thirty-two (32) bed Specialty Care Assisted Living Facility...more
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...more
AGG’s Home Health & Hospice team publishes a quarterly newsletter covering legal and regulatory topics specific to the home and community-based healthcare industry. The fields of end-of-life and home healthcare present...more