Market Research Letter: July/August 2010
Providing insights for home care and hospice
July/August 2010
In This Issue
Feature Article: Hospice or Home Health – Which Is More Vulnerable to Recovery Audit Contractors?
Metrics Matter: Projected Medicare Non-Routine Supply Payments Versus Actual Payments
Ask the Home Care Data Guru: How Does My Level of Hands-on Care Compare to My Hospice Competitors’?
Are hospices or home health agencies more vulnerable to Recovery Audit Contractors? In this month’s feature, we examine industry factors that indicate hospices should take action now to get ready for a RAC review. Plus, we suggest 4 important ways to prepare.
Rich Chesney
President, Healthcare Market Resources, Inc.
Feature Article: “Hospice or Home Health – Which Is More Vulnerable to Recovery Audit Contractors?”
Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) are economic beings – they’ll go where the easiest money is first. This month, we take a look at the industry factors that indicate why hospices are more vulnerable to RACs compared to home health businesses. Plus, we provide important actions hospices should take now to prepare for a RAC review. Read more.
Metrics Matter: “Projected Medicare Non-Routine Supply Payments Versus Actual Payments”
In 2008, new Prospective Payment System (PPS) methodology was developed for the Medicare Home Health reimbursement of non-routine supply payments. In this month’s Metrics Matters, we analyze Medicare’s projections of non-routine supply payments to determine how close they came to the actual payments. Read more.
Ask the Home Care Data Guru
Looking for some hard-to-find data? In Ask the Home Care Data Guru, we share questions from our subscribers – and our answers. Send us your question today!
Q: How does my level of hands-on care compare to my hospice competitors’?
A: With the Medicare claims data currently available, hospices are required to report visits by nurses, social workers, and home health aides as part of their claim submission. Starting with July 1, 2008, claims, Healthcare Market Resources has extracted information on visit levels by discipline. As you can see in a sample of this report, hospices can now easily compare their visit levels by discipline versus their local competitors and market norms. If you provide more visits than other hospices, you can tout this to your referral sources. Read the entire answer.