Home Health Accreditation Experts


We consult for all three; the Home Health (HHA) State License, National Accreditation, and Federal Medicare Certification via the Deem Status of the CMS Approved Accrediting Bodies. 



We provide packages that will dovetail right into the work you have already done, or even work you still need to do.  Regardless of what you need or still need to do, we can get you what you need and are experienced at getting this for you with the least amount of downtime.



We understand that downtime is no money time.  What business can survive without revenue?  Well, there is Apple.  They could handle a lot of downtime with assets higher than $900 Billion in US Dollars, but us HHA folks cannot.  A home health agency that is in the infant stages of development for full services in home care nursing services cannot go one day without revenues being generated to pay its staff and other overhead responsibilities.  This is why having a skilled consultant able to know where there are shortcuts in the processing comes in mighty handy.



Elite Accreditation has the healthcare consultants ready and willing to assist you in obtaining your State License, National Accreditation, and Medicare certification.
  Contact us: Call @ 424-235-0114  or 323-603-8333 TODAY!

Final Rule reflects improvements in quality and efficiency of care.



The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a final rule to update the Home Health Prospective Payment System (HH PPS) rates for Calendar Year (CY) 2018.   This final rule reflects CMS' ongoing efforts to improve quality of care provided by home health agencies to Medicare beneficiaries. The rule promotes efficiency in payments, implements various Affordable Care Act (ACA) provisions and enhances Medicare's program integrity.



 Home health agency (HHA) payments are estimated to decrease by approximately 4.89 percent -- or $960 million -- in 2018.  This impact accounts for ACA provisions, wage index and market basket updates, and case-mix coding adjustments. Under the new law, the existing home health agency outlier cap becomes permanent, and an additional 2.5 percent reduces HH PPS rates.   The rule mandates that CMS apply a one (1) percentage point reduction to the CY 2018 home health market basket amount; this results in a 1.1 percent market basket update for HHAs in CY 2019.

CMS initially proposed reducing CY 2018 HH PPS rates by 3.79 percent in CY 2018 and an additional 3.79 percent in CY 2020 for further growth in aggregate case-mix that is unrelated to changes in patients' health status. In response to comments, CMS has finalized the reduction for CY 2018 but has postponed action for CY 2020 to allow for further analysis.  

"By advancing patient care, improving quality and fighting fraud,  this final rule addresses important concerns shared by the home health industry and all Medicare stakeholders. "This final rule will help us ensure more accurate payments and retain prudent financial stewardship of the Medicare trust funds," said Jonathan Blum, director of the Center for Medicare and deputy administrator for CMS."

   

The final rule also implements other ACA provisions requiring:

 A physician certifying a patient's eligibility for Medicare's home health benefit to document that the certifying physician or allowed non-physician practitioner has had a face-to-face encounter with the patient.  This documentation is needed before certification of the patient's eligibility for Medicare's home health benefit.

A hospice physician or nurse practitioner to provide a face-to-face encounter before the hospice physician re-certifying the patient's eligibility for hospice services at the 180th-day recertification of care and all subsequent certifications.

 In CY 2010, CMS finalized a policy requiring HHAs that change ownership within three years of initial enrollment to obtain a new State survey or accreditation.  CMS has established exceptions to the 36-month ownership provision and provided further clarification on its capitalization provisions.  CMS also clarified policies for:

Coverage of therapy services in the home health setting, including describing the expectations that qualified therapists measure and document therapy effectiveness. ​

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Quality reporting requirements for the CY 2012 HH PPS rate update, related to the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HHCAHPS) Survey.​

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The rule can be located at http://federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx.  The law will be published in the Federal Register on November 17, 2010.  The effective date is January 1, 2011.

More information is available at www.healthcare.gov, a new web portal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

As of today, the first quarter of 2013, Medicare (CMS) has not found a reason to take monies out of the federal budgets that would impact this line of work drastically.  So, if you are considering starting a new home health agency, Elite Accreditation is your right choice in selecting an affordable consultant package that will give you the structure, guidance, and experienced-based consultant you need to pass your state license and federal Medicare Regulations, usually always via the Deem Status Authority of one of the National Accrediting Bodies!  If you are interested in owning, starting, or even investing in a Hospice type business, check out our page for this here.