Welcome to the HealthPRO Heritage Blog

With PDGM a mere 3 months away, agencies need to focus not only on preparing for the biggest change to Medicare reimbursement in 20 years, but also be diligent in developing their 2020 marketing plan to ensure successful growth. Home care is uniquely positioned as one of the lowest cost options for skilled care and is available to patients who adhere to the home bound status. One aspect that does not change with payment reform is the ongoing need for quality and value based care delivered in the home.

Recent CMS initiatives have created an interesting dynamic in the post-acute care industry:  Providers across the care continuum are being incentivized to form strategic partnerships and hold each other accountable for delivering efficient, enhanced patient care. 

Is your current therapy company or in-house therapy team equipped to help you prepare, execute and succeed under PDGM?

As one of the first therapy companies to specialize in management services for in-house therapy programs, HealthPRO Heritage was founded 20+ years ago and has since evolved into one of the most prominent, privately-owned therapy AND consulting firms in the country. This article offers SNF providers the benefit of our years’ experience and insight into how PDPM will certainly pressure-test delivery of rehab services – especially for in-house therapy programs.

Five, ten, and fifteen years ago, the intake department was just that: Intake. Taking in the information given to them from a referral source and performing the necessary data entry. As we prepare for the new world of PDGM, the Intake Department will be an integral part of the team.

The industry agrees:  With the roll out of such a complex new system like PDPM…there are several risks and so much at stake.  As such, here’s a question worth asking:

Does your facility have a proactive PDPM compliance, or verification process in place? If yes…good by you! But even a solid, well-functioning version of today’s process MUST be retooled in preparation for PDPM & Beyond!

The Home Health industry continues to evolve: the updated Conditions of Participation (CoPs) in 2018, then OASIS-D and the Review Choice Demonstration (RCD) in 2019, and now the Patient-Driven Groupings Model scheduled for 2020, just to name a few!  Change can be exhausting, so it is comforting to know that some things aren’t changing...like documentation!

Tuesday was the day! On July 30, CMS released the FY 2020 Final Rule for Medicare payment rates and quality programs. This is the moment we have all been waiting for. PDPM is 9 short weeks away, and the industry finally has clarifications RE: the new payment model.

Following the recent NAHC Financial Management Conference in Chicago, HealthPRO Heritage representatives in attendance outlined principal key concerns affecting home health agencies going forward into PDGM implementation. 

On July 11, 2019, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the 2020 Home Health Prospective Payment System (PPS) Proposed Rule (effective January 1, 2020). While many of the provisions in the original Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) remain unchanged, the home health experts from HealthPRO Heritage at Home offer the following summary of important updates: