Category: Advocacy

Health Care Innovation Grant Opportunity Released by HPC

After months of planning, the state’s Health Policy Commission has released the RFP for their Health Care Innovation Investment Program (HCII).

An initial round of $5 million will be distributed to applicants that partner with other organizations to propose innovative, multi-stakeholder payment and care delivery models with an emerging evidence base of cost savings. Among the focus areas are post-acute care, end-of-life care, behavioral health integration and social determinants of health.

Since this is being administered by the HPC, aside from the benefit of getting a grant any successful applicants will have the added benefit of having their project be high-profile and also a higher likelihood of influencing policy for others.

The HPC has posted the following schedule for due dates and information sessions:

  • Information Sessions:  

    March 16, 2016 – 10:45 AM, HPC Offices

    March 25, 2016 – 10:45 AM – Webinar (Register Here)

  • Letter Of Intent Due Date: April 8, 2016 by 3:00 PM EDT
  • Proposal Due Date: May 13, 2016 by 3:00 PM EDT
  • Anticipated Awardee Announcements: July 2016
  • Anticipated Period of Performance: October 2016 to September 2018

The Home Care Alliance strongly encourages both home health care and private pay home care agencies to apply. More information is available on the HPC’s HCII webpage and any questions or guidance on the program can be directed to James Fuccione at the Alliance.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

MHA, ONL & HCA Publish Latest Quality Measures for Hospitals, Home Health Agencies

The Massachusetts Hospital Association (MHA), Organization of Nurse Leaders of MA, RI, NH & CT (ONL) and Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts have publicly posted the latest available key national care quality performance measures for both hospitals and home healthcare agencies in Massachusetts. Data from Medicare’s Hospital Compare and Home Health Compare are now available on the PatientCareLink website for 77 Bay State hospitals and 89 Bay State home health agencies.Patientcarelink logo

Reported measures for hospitals include best practices for heart attack or chest pain, heart failure, pneumonia care, influenza prevention, surgical care improvement, stroke care and blood clot prevention and treatment. For home care agencies, the reported measures include timely initiation of care, patient/family medication education, depression assessment, and more.

To view the updated reports, visit www.patientcarelink.org and click on the “Healthcare Provider Data” tab and then either the “Hospital Data” or “Home Health Agency Data” link, then “Individual Hospital Performance Measures” or “Select an Agency.”

The home health agency reports now incorporate data for the period June 2014 – July 2015 for all measures, and the hospital reports cover April 2014 – March 2015. In addition to each facility’s individual performance, the PCL pages also provide a comparison to state and U.S. “peer” facility averages.

“Providing high quality, safe patient care is a top priority for Massachusetts hospitals,” said Pat Noga, PhD, RN, Vice President of Clinical Affairs for MHA. “Our hospitals are also committed to publicly posting important quality and staffing information to provide patients and caregivers alike additional confidence in their care.”

Patricia Kelleher, Executive Director of the Home Care Alliance of MA, added that the partnership between hospitals and home health agencies on PCL furthers positive working relationships along the entire continuum of care, which can only improve patient safety and quality overall.

“Choosing in-home services can be a daunting task and that’s why we’re proud that PatientCare Link (PCL) website allows patients and their families to find high-quality care in the home setting that fits their needs,” Kelleher said. “PCL includes Medicare-approved agencies that meet certain federal health and safety requirements, and provides patients, caregivers, and families the tool to easily access home health agency quality data to take control of their care and their health.”

Massachusetts was the first state to voluntarily make hospital staffing and nursing-sensitive quality information public starting in 2006. Home Care Alliance of Massachusetts joined the PCL quality and patient safety transparency effort in 2013. The PatientCareLink website is a great resource and gives patients an open and transparent view of the hospitals providing them care.

Hospitals and home care agencies welcome transparency about their performance when performance measures are grounded in good science and are designed to make fair comparisons across institutions. Publicly reported performance data can offer several benefits, including:

  • Offering useful information for making decisions about where to obtain healthcare
  • Helping healthcare professionals and institutions improve the care they deliver; and
  • Providing extra motivation to improve performance.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Prior Authorization Demo Proposed by CMS

Piling on top of existing pilots and demonstrations, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have released another proposed program that would establish Medicare prior authorizations and a fraud measurement pilot.

Massachusetts is one of five states – along with Florida, Texas, Illinois and Michigan – selected for the prior authorization demonstration. There are no details on what the authorizations would entail in the proposed demonstration aside from CMS stating that it would be similar to “Prior Authorization of Power Mobility Device (PMD) Demonstration, which was implemented by CMS in 2012.” The rule continues that “this demonstration would also follow and adopt prior authorization processes that currently exist in other health care programs such as TRICARE, certain state Medicaid programs, and in private insurance.”

CMS’ reasoning for implementing such a program a belief that it will help assist in “developing improved procedures for the identification, investigation, and prosecution of Medicare fraud occurring among HHAs providing services to Medicare beneficiaries.”

According to CMS, Medicare contractors will request the information from home health agency providers submitting claims for payment from the Medicare program in advance to determine appropriate payment.

The second piece of the CMS’ proposal is titled the “Medicare Probable Fraud Measurement Pilot.” The pilot would establish a baseline estimate of probable fraud in Medicare fee-for-service payments for home health care.

CMS purports that this would be accomplished using, at least in part, a summary of the service history of the HHA, the referring provider, and the beneficiary to estimate the percentage of total payments that are associated with probable fraud and the percentage of all claims that are associated with probable fraud for Medicare fee-for-service home health.

HCA is currently working to get more details on this demonstration so as to devise an advocacy strategy.

Comments on the proposed demonstration are due by April 5th and details are available here on the Federal Register.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Breakdown of Governor Baker’s FY17 State Budget for Home Care

Confronting a $635 million budget gap and steep spending increases in several areas, including MassHealth, Governor Charlie Baker’s administration released a $39.5 billion budget plan that aims to reduce growth while investing in more efficient programs.

On a conference call with stakeholders, state Health and Human Services Secretary Marylou Sudders thanked the Home Care Alliance for collaboration on a package of proposed solutions that are slated to go into effect by March 1st. As noted in previous newsletters and emails to HCA members, MassHealth is seeking to establish a prior authorization process, a moratorium on new home health providers, and a conflict-free physician referral process. This includes a closer scrutiny on medication administration visits and clients with a high utilization rate of home health aides.

Secretary Sudders reported on the call that audits will be conducted effective immediately. She also explained that there are currently 195 certified home health agencies in the Commonwealth and 12 were referred to the MassHealth Fraud Unit under the state’s Attorney General’s Office. The HCA will continue to monitor audit activity and provide pertinent updates.

More generally in the Health and Human Services budget, MassHealth Managed Care and MassHealth Senior Care are receiving funding increases while the Fee-for-Service line item continues to decrease reflecting a move to programs like Senior Care Options (SCO), OneCare and other managed care services.

In the elder services line items, the Enhanced Home Care or ECOP program was consolidated into several line items by the Baker administration. The bulk of what was a $70 million line item went to Home Care Purchased Services and Case Management under the Aging Service Access Points (ASAPs).

Below are some other notable items related to home care in the Governor’s FY17 budget:

  • Nursing Home Supplemental Rates increased by $30 million. This is due to an increase to assessments on SNFs.
  • The line item for MassHealth Managed Care increases $149.1 million and the MassHealth Senior Care account rises by $160.4 million, while the MassHealth Fee-for-service item goes down by $113.7 million.
  • Elder Protective Services funding was increased by $4.9 million.
  • DPH’s Pediatric Palliative Care Network was essentially level-funded at $1.8 million.
  • Elder Nutrition (Meals on Wheels) was also nearly level funded at $7.2 million.
  • The Nursing and Allied Health Education Workforce Development item was eliminated. Last year it was funded at $200,000 by the legislature after being zeroed out by the Governor.

The budget process moves on to the House and Senate and further updates  – on both the budget as well as the HCA’s work with MassHealth on program changes to home health services – will be shared as information becomes available.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

 

HPC Releases Proposed ACO Standards for Comment

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts is in the midst of a massive initiative to transform MassHealth payment and care delivery through the creation of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO). MassHealth has convened eight separate work groups to provide input and recommendations on various aspects of this transformation. The Home Care Alliance is represented on six of those eight work groups.

In support of that initiative, the state’s Health Policy Commission (HPC) this week released a set of draft ACO certification standards.

According to the HPC, the purpose of the certification program is to “complement existing local and national care transformation and payment reform efforts, validate value-based care, and promote investments by all payers in efficient, high-quality, and cost-effective care across the continuum.”

The HPC’s proposed standards include criteria, documentation requirements and questions for public comment. HCA intends to comment, so any members with thoughts, suggestions or answers on any of the proposed criteria or questions should contact James Fuccione at the Alliance.

For those looking to submit comments independent of the HCA, a public hearing will be hosted by the HPC on January 6 and the overall submission deadline for written feedback is January 29. That may seem like a far-off deadline, but with the holidays and the state’s budget process kicking up, any comments submitted to HCA well before that date would be appreciated.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

Project Update: Webinar on Home Health IT Adoption and Utilization Analysis

On Thursday, December 3, 12:00 – 1:00 PM, the Home Care Alliance will offer a one-hour virtual overview of the current home health IT utilization trends across the Commonwealth.

Throughout the summer and fall, a team from the Massachusetts eHealth Collaborative  (MAeHC) developed and distributed a statewide home health HIT adoption survey aimed at identifying and remediating gaps. The survey process, along with an action plan to increase HIT adoption among home health providers, will be presented on this webinar.

Home health, along with other behavioral health and long term care providers did not receive incentives under the Health Information Technology or Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act and American Recovery & Reinvestment Act (ARRA) which hospitals and eligible professionals have used to offset costs related to adoption health IT. The anticipation that new care and payment models, such as Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs), might support the cost of health IT adoption among “non-incentivized providers,” has been realized only in the most limited of fashions.

While the industry continues to lobby for IT funding for long term care in future phases of “meaningful use,”   The Alliance, in partnership with MAeHC and the Massachusetts eHealth Institute (MeHI), has taken steps to better position home health agencies to demonstrate their value proposition as connected partners.

This event is FREE and open to any interested party.  (Note:  HCA will be offering a special webinar for members who participated in the survey.)

Please click here to register. https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/921473577991975937.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

CMS Releases Final Home Health Rule, Adds Discharge Planning Proposal

CMS published the Final Rule for Medicare Home Health PPS and VBP for CY 2016 to its website yesterday.  The official notice will be published in the Federal Register on November 5.

CMS also announced a “Discharge Planning Proposed Rule,” that is estimated to cost home health agencies nationwide about $283 million. The proposal, which the Home Care Alliance will fully analyze, will revise discharge planning processes for hospitals, long-term care hospitals, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and critical access hospitals in addition to home health.

In terms of changes made to the Home Health Final Rule, CMS pulled back slightly regarding both payment and in the Value Based Purchasing Program. Below is an analysis from HCA staff:

Value Based Purchasing:

The final rule makes minor changes to the VBP system from the proposed rule.  The same nine states (including MA) are selected, with all agencies in the state included in the VBP system.  VBP will begin January 1, 2016, with a 2015 baseline year on performance, with all agencies within each selected state competing against each other for payment adjustments tied to quality performance measures.

CMS made a small concession to industry concerns that the proposed risk corridor was too broad, and reduced the maximum payment reduction in the first year of the VBP from the proposed 5 percent to 3 percent. The payment adjustments will be increased incrementally over the course of the model with: 

  • a maximum payment adjustment of  3-percent (upward or downward) in 2018,
  • a maximum payment adjustment of 5-percent (upward or downward) in 2019,
  • a maximum payment adjustment of 6-percent (upward or downward) in 2020,
  • a maximum payment adjustment of 7-percent (upward or downward) in2021, and
  • a maximum payment adjustment of 8-percent (upward or downward) in 2022.

CMS dropped 4 process measures and 1 of the new reporting measures. The final set of 24 measures includes 10 outcome measures, 6 process measures, 5 HHCAHPS, and 3 New Measures.

Outcome Measures

  • Improvement in Pain Interfering with Activity-M1242
  • Improvement in Dyspnea- M1400
  • Improvement in Bathing-M1830
  • Improvement in Bed Transferring-M1850
  • Improvement in Ambulation-Locomotion M1860
  • Prior Functioning ADL/IADL-M1900
  • Improvement in Management of Oral Medications-M2020
  • Discharged to Community-M2420
  • Acute Care Hospitalization: Unplanned Hospitalization during first 60 days of Home Health- (Claims)
  • Emergency Department Use without Hospitalization- (Claims)

Process Measures

  • Influenza Vaccine Data Collection Period: Does this episode of care include any dates on or between October 1 and March 31?-M1041
  • Influenza Immunization Received for Current Flu Season-M1046
  • Pneumococcal Polysaccharide Vaccine Ever Received-M1051
  • Reason Pneumococcal vaccine not received-M1056
  • Drug Education on All Medications Provided to Patient/Caregiver during all Episodes of Care-M2015
  • Care Management: Types and Sources of Assistance-M2102

Home Health CAHPS: Satisfaction Survey Measures

  • Care of Patients
  • Communications between Providers and Patients
  • Specific Care Issues
  • Overall rating of home health care
  • Willingness to recommend the agency

New Measures

  • Influenza Vaccination Coverage for Home Health Care Personnel
  • Herpes zoster (Shingles) vaccination: Has the patient ever received the shingles vaccination?
  • Advance Care Plan

CMS has modified the reporting of the New Measures; HHAs will be required to begin reporting data (through a web portal) no later than October 7, 2016, for the period July, 2016, through September, 2016, and quarterly thereafter. As a result, the first quarterly performance report in July, 2016, will not account for any of the New Measures.

CY2016 PPS Rates

Case Mix Weights:  CMS made additional minor changes to the case mix weights based on additional analysis.

Case Mix Adjustment:  In a slight concession to industry comments, CMS is phasing in their proposed 2.88% case mix adjustment over three years instead of the two years they initially proposed.  So the final rule decreases the national, standardized 60-day episode payment amount by 0.97% each year in CY 2016, CY 2017, and CY 2018, instead of 1.44% for just 2016 and 2017. 

Market Basket Update:  The final CY 2016 home health market basket (2.3 percent) combined with the multifactor productivity adjustment (0.4 percentage points) results in a 1.9 percent home health payment update percentage.

Wage Index:  CMS made additional small adjustments to the Wage Index because they used an updated database of hospital wage data.  The final wage index is slightly lower than the proposed index for every geographic region in MA except Berkshire County.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org

CMS Sends Brief Response on Congressional HHPPS Letter

A letter to CMS voicing deep concerns about the Home Health proposed rule with 133 signatures from members of Congress, including all nine US Representatives from Massachusetts, was sent in mid September.

CMS issued their response, which was more brief than usual and only served to thank the signers for sharing those concerns. CMS is obviously not sharing much as the finalized regulation is set to be released on November 1st.

The original congressional letter to CMS made a few major points. Concerns about the case mix cuts centered on the data CMS relied upon to make those adjustments, which were flagged as “outdated” and illogical. CMS essentially ignored the past five years of data and instead used a decade of data in the prior time period to make projections going forward.

The letter also raised concerns about the proposed Value-Based Purchasing Program (VBP) that will take place in nine states, including Massachusetts. Specifically, the five-to-eight percent penalty/reward window was put forth as much too severe and dramatic as was the immense list of quality measures that CMS proposed that agencies would track as part of the VBP.

Among those leading on the letter were Massachusetts Congressman and home health care champion Jim McGovern. The Alliance thanks Congressman McGovern and all in the state’s congressional delegation that signed on. More information will be announced following the release of the final rule.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org

HCA Returns from Productive Washington, DC Trip

Home Care Alliance staff and member agencies attended the Visiting Nurse Associations of America’s (VNAA) Public Policy Leadership Conference in the nation’s capital this past week and met with most of the state’s Congressional delegation.

Before and during the trip, the Alliance was able to secure support from eight of the nine US Reps on a letter to CMS voicing concern on case mix cuts and the impending Value-Based Purchasing demonstration. The ninth congressperson may still sign on, but it was still a productive trip where home health agencies from across the country were lobbying on the Physician Face-to-Face Requirement, allowing NP’s and PA’s to sign and certify home health plans of care, expanding palliative care career opportunities and showing the impact of proposed payment cuts.

Much of the activity was documented on the HCA’s Twitter page along with photos of congressional visits. The Alliance will be following up on our meetings and advocacy in DC and will continue to represent our members regarding the CMS proposed rule, Face-to-Face, and other federal issues. The HCA thanks member agencies that attended as well as our supportive Congressional Delegation, particularly Congressman Jim McGovern who co-led the letter to CMS.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.

HCA Applauds Tele-monitoring Support from MassHealth

After years of advocacy with the legislature and working collaboratively with MassHealth, the Home Care Alliance proudly testified at a public hearing on proposed remote patient monitoring (RPM) payment rates and regulations this week.

Alliance Legislative and Public Affairs Director James Fuccione commented that reimbursement for RPM will strengthen the ability of home health agencies to carry out their mission of keeping people healthy at home and commended MassHealth for including a broad definition that will allow agencies to be creative in their use of the service. Dana Sheer, NP of Partners Healthcare at Home, also submitted comments in support of RPM and offered recommendations on clarifying language.

The Alliance asked for clarification on a number of points, including whether an “installation/removal” fee of $50 would be paid by MassHealth for both or on each end of the set-up and removal of RPM equipment. HCA suggested that the fee be raised to $75 and paid on both ends. Additionally, the Alliance asked for guidance on how to proceed when multiple patients in the same setting could benefit from RPM services. Comments from the Alliance suggested that RPM could go a long way in assisting patients with behavioral health and substance abuse issues as well.

In his testimony, Mr. Fuccione raised the ongoing concern regarding MassHealth rates for nursing, therapy, and home health aide visits, and urged MassHealth to expedite a review and update of those rates.  He noted that the Alliance has had several recent meetings with MassHealth staff focusing on that very subject. However, the hearing was centered on the tele-monitoring proposal and the Home Care Alliance is thrilled to have spearheaded the push for reimbursement.

Massachusetts is one of only a few state Medicaid programs with financial support for RPM, which will be effective this November. MassHealth explained at the hearing that they expect a savings just within the home health program of $1.4 million.

The Alliance’s comments are available here and more updates on any changes MassHealth may make based on our comments will also be sent to member agencies.

Return to www.thinkhomecare.org.