New CMS Care Transitions Program Q&As, Open Door Forum

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have released a new round of Questions & Answers in regards to the Community-Based Care Transitions Program.

See the full list of these helpful Q&A’s here, and below are a couple of the newest posts that may be of interest to home health agencies. One in particular about whether some of the responsibilities of the lead applicant can be subcontracted to other entities.

There is also an “open door forum” scheduled for May 5 and the Home Care Alliance strongly encourages all interested agencies to register and participate.

• Can the Community-Based Organization (CBO) that is the applicant agency subcontract out to other CBOs who are doing the actual transitional care work? The applicant agency CBO would be an administrator, central organizer, and recipient of funding prior to subcontracting out to CBO partners in the field.

Yes that is acceptable; however, the applicant would need to demonstrate that each proposed subcontractor possessed expertise in the delivery of care transition services.

• Could a Chronic Care Management Program be considered having expertise in care transitions?

Experience with chronic care management/disease management is not synonymous with care transitions experience. The per eligible discharge rate is meant to cover a relatively short term intense intervention around admission to and discharge from an acute care hospital. This rate would not support an ongoing chronic care management program which usually requires a per member per month payment for an indefinite period.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.