Issue link: https://beckershealthcare.uberflip.com/i/1161749
22 CFO / FINANCE CMS releases proposed home health payment rule for 2020: 7 takeaways By Ayla Ellison C MS released its proposed Home Health Prospective Payment System rule for 2020, which would increase home health payments and remove one quality measure from the Home Health Quality Reporting Program. Seven takeaways from the proposed rule: 1. Under the proposed rule, net home health pay- ments would increase by 1.3 percent, or $250 mil- lion, in 2020. 2. The proposed rule sets forth the implementation of the Patient-Driven Groupings Model, a new case- mix methodology that was finalized last year. 3. CMS will stop using the number of therapy visits provided to determine home health payments in 2020. Instead, CMS will implement the Patient-Driv- en Groupings Model, which will reimburse home health agencies based on patient characteristics rather than the volume of therapy visits. 4. Under the proposed rule, therapist assistants, rather than only therapists, would be allowed to provide therapy. "This proposed change would be consistent with regulations for skilled nursing facilities where therapist assistants can perform maintenance therapy; would allow therapist as- sistants to practice at the top of their state licen- sure; and would provide HHAs the flexibility to use either therapists or therapist assistants to meet the maintenance therapy needs of their patients," CMS said in a fact sheet about the pro- posed rule. 5. The proposed rule would remove one pain-asso- ciated quality measure from the Home Health Qual- ity Reporting Program. CMS said it is proposing to eliminate the Pain Interfering with Activity Measure to "mitigate any potential unintended, over-pre- scription of opioid medications inadvertently driven by these measures." The proposed rule would also remove a question regarding pain communication from the HHCAHPS Survey. 6. Under the proposed rule, CMS would adopt two new quality measures that assess the transfer of health information. 7. CMS will accept comments on the proposed rule through Sept. 9. n Alaska hospital closes By Ayla Ellison S itka (Alaska) Community Hospital closed July 29, and the fa- cility was integrated into Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center in Sitka Aug. 1. After the hospital closed, Southeast Alaska Regional Health Consor- tium took over the facility. SEARHC will operate the facility as part of Mt. Edgecumbe Medical Center, a 25-bed critical access hospital. SEARHC plans to offer a variety of services at the former Sitka Community Hospital, including a family clinic and long-term care, according to SEARHC's website. Local residents will also have access to urgent care. Mountainside Urgent Care, formerly Sitka Medical Center Express Care Clinic, will be open seven days a week. n HCA says it's open to rule on publishing hospital rates, welcomes competition By Kelly Gooch N ashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare said it is receptive to a pro- posed hospital price transparency rule from CMS and the competitive opportunities it could bring, according to Nashville Public Radio. e proposed rule — which is included in the 2020 Outpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule released July 29 — would require hospitals to publish the rates they negotiate with payers for hundreds of services consumers are likely to shop for in a searchable and consumer-friendly manner. e price transparency requirements build upon a previous federal rule, which took effect Jan. 1 and requires hospitals to publish their standard charges on the internet. Senate health committee Chairman Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and HHS Secretary Alex Azar have provided generally positive feedback about the lat- est hospital price transparency effort, while major U.S. hospital associations have spoken out against it. HCA executives said the for-profit hospital operator is receptive to the latest effort and plans to weigh in on the proposed rule during the comment period, which ends Sept. 27, according to Nashville Public Radio. According to the station, William B. Rutherford, CFO and executive vice pres- ident of HCA, said: "We don't know exactly where we stand relative to others in the marketplace, and we think that will create some opportunities, maybe some challenges there. But we think the HCA system will stand up well on a price transparency view." Mr. Rutherford reportedly made the remarks during a quarterly earnings con- ference call with analysts. HCA reported that revenue increased year over year in the second quarter of 2019, but the company's net income fell. Aer sec- ond-quarter earnings were released, shares of HCA dropped up to 12 percent in early morning trading July 30, according to e Motley Fool, an Alexan- dria, Va.-based financial services company. n