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Office of Inspector General
Division of Health Care
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Issue: #02-SE-2018
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April 2018 |
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Office of Inspector General Home Page
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Want to Know the Top 10 Citations for Home Health Agencies?
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| Medicare Learning Network |
Let the Medicare Learning Network (MLN) be your home for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) education, information, and resources.
Visit the Medicare Learning Network for free educational materials for health care professionals on CMS programs, policies, and initiatives.
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CMS Policies and Memos
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CMS Survey and Certification memoranda, guidance, clarifications and instructions to State Survey Agencies and CMS Regional Offices.
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| KARES |
Enroll Now!
To enroll in KARES voluntarily, please click the icon below and follow the self-directed enrollment process.
For additional information about the program, please contact the help desk at (502) 564-2159 or via email.
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Home Health Quality Quick Links
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HOME HEALTH AGENCY
NEWSLETTER
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Welcome to the Division of Health Care's Special Edition-April issue of the Home Health Agency Newsletter. This newsletter is a valuable vehicle to keep you updated on current events affecting Home Health Agencies.
Please feel free to share this newsletter with anyone you think would benefit. They can continue to receive this newsletter by joining our mailing list using the link at the bottom. We look forward to serving you through this communication vehicle.
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| New OASIS Coordinator |
Buffy Stone is the new OASIS Education Coordinator. You can contact her regarding any OASIS Assessment/Coding questions by phone at 502-595-4958 x 5019 or e-mail.
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| New IDR Coordinator |
Buffy Stone is also the new IDR Coordinator. Please see the new address, listed below, to use when sending in any IDR information or if interested in serving on an IDR panel.
Interested in Serving on an IDR Panel?
Kentucky requires one member of the IDR panel to be "a person currently engaged in the provision of Home Health Agency services who has no affiliation with the provider disputing a deficiency." Typically, a Home Health Agency Director is on each IDR panel. There is no payment or travel reimbursement for a Director serving on a panel. Directors will be rotated. If a Home Health Agency Director is interested in serving on a panel, a confidentiality statement must be signed prior to the participation in the first IDR panel.
Buffy Stone, IDR/IIDR Coordinator
Office of Inspector General
908 W. Broadway, L&N Bldg. 10-W
Louisville, KY 40203
Fax: (502) 595-4540
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QTSO Website Address Changing
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 In compliance with CMS Standards, the QTSO website at https://www.qtso.com was renamed and moved to https://qtso.cms.gov during the March 18, 2018 downtime.
No functionality changes within the website were made, and you can continue to use it as normal. A redirect from www.qtso.com to the new .gov address will be in place temporarily after the migration to allow for support of older references; however, QTSO Website users should update any bookmarks/favorites to the https://qtso.cms.gov address.
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CASPER and OASIS User's Guide
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 The following link to the OASIS documentation has been updated to reflect the new QTSO address:
OASIS User Guides
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| Downtime |
 Prescheduled Downtime for System Maintenance
View the
2018 Downtime Dates that are prescheduled for routine maintenance for OASIS and/or other CMS QIES systems.
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OASIS Users - Software Upgrade
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 There was a CMS upgrade to the Juniper Gateways and the Client software currently used by the QIES user groups who remotely log into CMSNet for required reporting. This upgrade occurred on March 17th for Kentucky.
Please read the additional information on how to deal with any issues with this software upgrade.
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New Medicare cards start mailing in April 2018 and continue through April 2019.
Learn how CMS will mail the new Medicare cards in phases by geographic location.
View additional information on the CMS website or on the Medicare Learning Network Fact Sheet.
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| Emailing Assessment or Patient Information |
PLEASE DO NOT SEND ANY IDENTIFIABLE PATIENT INFORMATION THROUGH EMAIL.
As a reminder, when sending information via e-mail to a state OASIS Coordinator or to any of the
CMS help desks, be sure not to include any identifiable patient data. This includes medical record numbers, dates of birth, service dates (including visit dates, admission dates, or discharge dates), or any other data items considered identifiers or Protected Health Information (PHI) under HIPAA.
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Surveyor Training Website
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Click to view training options
This CMS website provides training information to include the preceptor manual, the State Operations Manual and other documents.
As always, the survey and certification process is a collaborative effort between CMS and providers. This website will allow providers the opportunity to take the same courses as surveyors.
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Reporting Complaints
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Email addresses have been established for use by patients and the general public to report possible violations of regulatory requirements.
Each DHC Enforcement Branch has an assigned email address to receive this information. Review the map in the above article to determine the appropriate Enforcement Branch. Click Here for new email addresses and additional contact information.
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Which Enforcement Branch is Serving You?
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To provide the highest level of service, the Division of Health Care operates through four regional offices. Knowing the appropriate Enforcement Branch to contact with questions and concerns will ensure you receive maximum service in minimum time. Review links below for detailed information.
Contact Information
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OIG Contacts
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For OASIS Coding or Assessment questions:
Contact Buffy Stone, Kentucky's OASIS Education Coordinator, by phone at 502-595-4958, extension 5019 or via
e-mail
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For OASIS Transmission or Technical questions:
Contact Rhonda Littleton-Roe at 502-564-7963, extension 3300 or via
e-mail.
For Home Health Agency Licensing or Regulation questions:
Contact Nycole Huber at
at 502-564-7963, extension 3322 or via
e-mail
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The Office of Inspector General is Kentucky's regulatory agency for licensing all health care, day care, long-term care facilities, and child adoption/child-placing agencies in the Commonwealth.
If you have an idea for a future article, e-mail Rhonda Littleton-Roe at
[email protected].
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