Celebrating Veterans Days 2021
"Honoring All Who Served"
|
|
Licensed Home Care Agencies
Do Not Include Live-in Caregivers in Vaccination Reporting
They are not subject to the regulation
On November 9, 2021, CDPHE issued clarification regarding the Part 12 reporting requirements and live-in caregivers: "Licensed home care agencies shall not include live-in caregivers in their reporting, as these individuals are not subject to the regulation. These individuals should not be included in your agency totals, regardless of the individual’s vaccination status. While live-in caregivers are not required to be vaccinated, CDPHE strongly recommends both live-in caregivers and the loved ones they care for to receive the vaccine. All other employees, direct contractors, and support staff who are not live-in caregivers shall continue to be reported by the agency as required." Read the Tuesday, November 9, 2021 Health Facilities Blog
|
-
Hospitals and other healthcare facilities must mandate COVID-19 vaccination among employees or risk losing Medicare and Medicaid funding, CMS said Thursday.
- Employees must be fully vaccinated by Jan. 4.
- The Occupational Safety and Health Administration also issued a rule requiring all businesses (not only those with Medicare/Medicaid funding) with 100 or more employees to ensure workers are fully vaccinated, and those who aren't must be tested on a weekly basis by Jan. 4. Employers must also provide paid-time off for employees who need to get vaccinated.
- The CMS rule will affect about 17 million healthcare workers at 76,000 facilities, the agency said.
- Unlike the OSHA requirement, healthcare employees will not be able to forego the vaccine and be tested regularly.
|
Flu Shot Billing
It’s quick and easy to use roster billing for COVID, flu, and pneumococcal vaccines.
Information & Requirements
- Mass Immunizers: Providers who give COVID, flu, and pneumococcal vaccines to groups of individuals (like people who live in a retirement community). Mass immunizers can be a traditional provider, like a physician, or a non-traditional provider, like a drug store, public health clinic, or senior center. We created the mass immunizer specialty for providers who wouldn't otherwise be eligible for Medicare enrollment. Mass immunizers must submit all claims as professional claims on a roster bill.
- Roster Bill: A way for you to submit multiple claims for COVID, flu, and pneumococcal vaccines. Entities enrolled as Mass Immunization Roster Billers must use roster billing.
- You must bill each type of vaccine on a separate roster bill. You can’t combine COVID, flu, and pneumococcal vaccine codes on the same roster bill.
-
Find your MAC website to learn more about or set up roster billing
- Find the right HCPCS, CPT, & ICD-10 codes
- You may use roster billing or submit individual claims
- All providers who administer the flu shot must accept assignment
-
Entities, like local health facilities, must get a national provider identifier (PDF) if they’ve never submitted Medicare claims
- Learn about roster billing, mass immunizers, & centralized billing
|
HOME CARE LICENSURE RULE CHANGES (CHAPTER 26 ), DECEMBER 15
Colorado Board of Health will conduct a public rule-making hearing on December 15, 2021 at 10 a.m. remotely via Zoom, to consider the amendments to 6 CCR 1011-1 Chapter 26, Home Care Agencies. The amendments are proposed by the Health Facilities and Emergency Medical Services Division of the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment pursuant to Sections 25-1.5-103, 25-3-101, and 25-27.5-101, et seq., C.R.S.
The Board encourages all interested persons to participate in the hearing by providing written data, views, or comments. Written testimony is encouraged; oral testimony will be received only to the extent the Board finds it necessary.
Persons wishing to submit written comments should submit them to: Colorado Board of Health, ATTN: Board of Health Program Assistant, Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment, 4300 Cherry Creek Drive South EDO-A5, Denver, Colorado 80246-1530 or by e-mail at: cdphe.bohrequests@state.co.us. Read the notice
|
New
Policy, Procedure & Personnel, Part 1 of 2 with Connie McWilliams, CHC founder and president in a program about Policy, what it is, what it is not, how to write it with analysis and surveyor probes of the many regulations pertaining to staff job descriptions, competency, experience and training requirements.
|
Home Health Care Services Reduce Re-hospitalizations for Medicare Patients with Diabetes - Referral Inequities Highlighted
Medicare patients with diabetes are more likely to be re-hospitalized if they do not receive recommended home health care within two days of discharge, according to a Rutgers study.
The study was published as two papers in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Key findings include:
- 27 percent of 786,734 Medicare beneficiaries with a diabetes-related hospital admission received home health care within two weeks of being discharged in 2015.
- Hispanic and American Indian patients were significantly less likely than white patients to be referred to home health care, and that racial and ethnic minority patients more often received delayed services or no services within the first two weeks compared to non-Hispanic white patients.
- Patients who had a short delay in beginning home health care within two days were 1.28 times more at risk of re-hospitalization compared to patients who began within the recommended timeframe.
- Patients with delays beyond that were 4.12 times more at risk of re-hospitalizations.
|
|
Virtual Classroom
Makeover in Progress
Questions: connie@chctrain.com
|
|
|
|
|
|
|