Constraining Medicare Home Health Reimbursement: What Are the Outcomes?

Medicare Reitnbursetnent in Hotne Care ( documentation , home health care , reimbursement mechanisms )

T he requirements for Medicare coverage are stringent. The therapist's charting is the only means by which a Medicare reviewer can judge the progress of patients. Reimbursement is denied when skilled care or patient progress is not documented. With a clear understanding of the Medicare guidelines, occupational therapists will be better able to document services and record patient progress to en...

The Effect of New Medicare Reimbursement Methodologies on Rural Home Health Agencies and Their Beneficiaries The Effect of New Medicare Reimbursement Methodologies on Rural Home Health Agencies and Their Beneficiaries

Changes in the Medicare home health care market: the impact of reimbursement policy.

BACKGROUND The Balanced Budget Act of 1997 introduced 2 new reimbursement structures, the Interim Payment System (IPS, 1997-2000) and the Prospective Payment System (PPS, begun October 2000) for Medicare home health agencies (HHAs) under the fee-for-service program. OBJECTIVE This article describes and compares the impact of these changes on the Medicare home health market from a period befor...

Occupational therapy in home health: rapid changes need proactive planning.

Home health has been expanding in the number of both agencies and beneficiaries and in the scope of service delivery. In 1961, there were 200 home health agencies in the United States. Now, there are more than 8,000 agencies-with 90% being Medicare certified-providing services to approximately 1.2 million clients Oette, Smith, & McDermott, 1996). Home health is one of the fastest growing catego...

A Profile of Home Health Users in 1992

Recently, the use of home health services by Medicare beneficiaries has been growing. From 1987 to 1992, the percentage of all enrollees receiving home health rose from 4.8 to 7.2 percent, while the average number of visits among users increased from 23 to 54. This article uses the 1992 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) to profile home health users. In addition to providing descriptive...