1. Editorially Speaking –Medicaid Update
2. Denise Schrader Elected Board President
3. Dues Reminder
4. Fraud And Abuse And Other Risks Related to “Bundling” of Services and Supplies – by Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq.
5. Use Of Consulting Physicians/Medical Directors: Practical Issues – by Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq.
6. Recommendations From The Field Related to Unplanned And/Or Preventable Hospitalizations – by Fazzi Associates
7. Ask NAHC: NPs and PAs Issuing Verbal Orders For Services, Signing Home Health Plans Of Care
8. Regulatory Roundup: String of CMS Transmittals, Medlearn Matters Articles Relevant to Home Health
9. Commission On Workforce For Long-Term Care Releases Report Finding LTC Nurse Shortage “Affects All Geographic Areas, All Types of Providers”
10. “Pioneers” Outline Promise Limitations of Pay-For-Performance (P4P) to House Subcommittee
11. Congressional Hearing Addresses Benefits of Telemedicine/Home Telehealth, Application to Chronically Ill and Rural Patients
12. CDC Web Resources Illustrate Seriousness of Falls Among Elder Population, Steps to Reduce Risk
13. HHS Announces Developments In National Health Information Networld Initiatives
14. U.S. Supreme Court Requests Government’s Position In OT Wages Case
     

1. Editorially Speaking –Medicaid Update/Rotunda Report
2. District Elections Complete Board of Directors Selection Process
3. “National Action Plan” Released For Falls Prevention; Drawn From Findings Of December Summit
4. Rural Home Health Therapy Services Use Growing But Lags Behind Growth In Metro Areas, Study Finds
5. Requests For Proposals For First Round Of Contracts In QIO 8th Scope Of Work Issued
6. QIOs Meet With Providers To Showcase Best Practice “Change Packages”
7. Ask NAHC: Coding OASIS MO490 for Patient Requiring Ventilator
8. Don’t Miss Barn Raising V and Your Chance to Celebrate 125 Years of Public Health for the State of Iowa
9. Some State-To-State Disparities Emerge In National Home Health Hospitalization Reduction Study
10. New Nationwide OASIS Cost and Benefit Survey Launched
11. Ask NAHC: Therapies Provided at Wound Clinic
12. Home Telehealth: State of the Technology (This article courtesy of Home Care Automation Report, Stoney Hill Management)
13. For Hip or Knee Replacement Patient, Home Health Setting Producing Best Outcomes, Is Most Cost-Effective, Researchers Findn
     

Home Care Highlights - April 2005
(Click on headlines below to view and print individual articles)

1. Editorially Speaking –Medicaid Update/Rotunda Report
2. Seven Board Members Elected At Annual Meeting
3. HIPAA Seminar Available To IAHC Members
4. Physicians’ Orders For Specific Post-Acute Providers And Use of Rotation Systems – by Elizabeth Hogue, Esq.
5. GAO Examines HHS’ Estimates Of Health Care Cost Savings Achievable Through Use Of IT
6. MedPAC Recommends Freeze In Home Health Payments In Report to Congress
7. Implementation Of Pay-For-Performance (P4P)/IT Systems For Home Health And Other Providers Strongly Recommended By MedPAC
8. Health Care Spending Projections Anticipate Shift From Private To Public Spending Sources
9. Latest CMS Data Indicate Further Growth In HHA Numbers; Facility-Based Agencies Continue To Decline
10. National Hospital Reduction Study Fact Sheet For State Home Care Associations
11. Ask NAHC: Medicare Home Health “Management And Evaluation”
12. Ask NAHC: Lymphedema Therapy Delivered In The Home Health Setting
13. IowAble Foundation
14. Used Equipment Referral Service (UERS)

1. Editorially Speaking – Medicaid Update/Rotunda Report
2. How Providers Should Handle Clients’ Preferences For Caregivers - by Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq.
3. Your State (Iowa); Institutional Versus Community Expenditures: Y’05
4. CMS Holds First Home Health, Hospice, DME Open Door Forum for 2005
5. OIG Turns Up Billing Errors In Physician Care Plan Oversight Claims Audit
6. CMS Round Up: Efforts Related To Demonstrations, Paperwork Reduction Act Form Clearances
7. Advocates, CMS Explore Use Of Reverse Mortgages To Shore Up Long-Term Care Coverage Gaps
8. CBO Budget “Options” Report To Congress Ponders Home Health Co Pays, Five-Year Freeze On Pay Update
9. Many Hospitalizations Preventable, AHRQ Report Finds
10. NQF Board Gives Green Light To Home Health Quality Reporting
11. QIOs Initiate Home Health Best Practices Projects
12. IowAble Foundation
13. Used Equipment Referral Service (UERS)

1. Editorially Speaking –Medicaid Update/Rotunda Report
2. IAHC Annual Meeting Notice
3. IAHC Spring District Meeting Dates Set
4. Reversals’ Big Payback; Mortgage Option Allows Seniors to Borrow, Not Repay
5. Probability, Implications and Planning for 2005 – by Fazzi Associates
6. IDPH: Current Activities
7. MedPAC Endorses Home Health Pay-for-Performance (P4P), Discusses Rural Add-on
8. GAO Finds Need To Improve Response Accuracy of 1-800-MEDICARE Helpline
9. Medicaid and Other Health Care Costs Top Concerns for States in 2005, Study Finds
10. Details Released on “Home Health Compare” Updates For 2005
11. Health Care Spending Growth Ebbed For 2003, But Still Outpaced Economic Growth, CMS Reports
12. MedPAC To Recommend That Congress Freeze Home Health Payments For 2006
13. Congress Should Support Pay-for-Performance (P4P) In Medicare, MedPAC Votes
14. Policy Discussions Advance At “Convening On Consumer Direction In Aging Services”
15. Ask NAHC: Medicare/Medicaid Dual Eligibles and IV Therapy Coverage
16. Pilot Run of Medicare Provider Satisfaction Surveys Underway
17. Ask NAHC: New Home Health HCPCS Codes For Wound Vac Supplies
18. Job Corner

1. Editorially Speaking –Medicaid Update
2. Iowa Legislative Services Agency Fiscal Services: Medicaid Funding Growth FY2005 Through FY2007
3. DIA Follow-up Responses From November 4, 2004 Audio Teleconference
4. DHS Memo: Iowa Health Solution Terminating Contract
5. CMS Memo: Application of the Home Health Agency (HHA) Conditions of Participation (COPs) to Patients Receiving Chore Services Exclusively
6. CMS Memo: Home Health Agency (HHA) Drop Sites
7. Quality Improvement in Iowa’s Home Health Agencies a High Point of National Home Care Month
8. Physicians And Patients’ Right To Freedom of Choice – by Elizabeth E. Hogue, Esq.
9. The Two Measures of Clinical Productivity and What They Mean – by Fazzi Associates
10. Study Shows That Reverse Mortgages Can Help Many With Long Term Care Expenses
11. NAHC’s Response to The National Quality Forum’s Draft National Voluntary Consensus Standards for Home Health Care
12. NAHC Unveils New Cost Report Data Findings for Medicare HHAs
13. CMS Round Up: Osteoporosis Drug Covered by Medicare; Home Health Bundled Billing Update
14. OCS’s Twiss Forecasts Coming Trend of Linking Disease Management, Outcomes and Payment in Home Care
15. Coalition of Consumer and Provider Groups Anticipates Effort to Cut Medicaid in 2005
16. MedPAC Sets Stage for 2005 Recommendations to Congress on Home Health Payment
17. U.S. Department of Justice Initiates Home Care Antitrust Investigation
18. JCAHO Develops Pay-for-Performance Principle
19. Federal Overtime Ruling Throws Home Care System Off Balance
20. Nursing 2004 Salary Survey
21. IDPH Report: Best Practices in Safe Patient Handling: A Compilation of Resources to Minimize Health Worker Injuries
22. IDPH Report: Issue Brief: Health Workforce Projections 2002-2012