GENESIS REHAB CLINICIANS IN THE SPOTLIGHT
We are pleased to share that Aimee Perron, PT, DPT, and Clinical Director for us, has been selected to receive the Professional Achievement Award from Boston University’s College of Health and Rehabilitation Sciences: Sargent College. In addition to holding a Doctorate in Physical Therapy, Aimee is a Board Certified Neurologic Clinical Specialist and a Certified Exercise Expert for Aging Adults. Please join me in congratulating Aimee on this outstanding achievement!
REGULATORY UPDATES AND RESOURCES
MACs Resume Medical Review on a Post-payment Basis: Beginning August 2020, Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) resumed post-payment reviews of items and services with dates of service before March 2020. MACs may now begin conducting post-payment medical reviews for later dates of service. The Targeted Probe and Educate program (intensive education to assess provider compliance through up to 3 rounds of review) will restart later. The MACs will continue to offer detailed review decisions and education as appropriate.
As a friendly reminder, it is critical that you immediately alert us of any notice, denied claim or ADR via our customer portal so that we may assist you. Our portal is designed to allow you to easily upload the information you have received and will also notify the appropriate Genesis Rehab team members of the denial or ADR. If you have any questions, please contact your DOR.
Bill to Waive the Three-day Inpatient Hospital Stay: A bill to permanently waive the three-day inpatient hospital stay requirement for Medicare coverage of a skilled nursing stay was introduced in the House of Representatives on Tuesday, an attempt to make the pandemic-related change stick around long-term. The bipartisan legislation, titled the “Improving Access to Medicare Coverage Act,” was sponsored by Reps. Joe Courtney(D-CT), Suzan DelBene (D-WA), Ron Estes (R-Kansas), and Glenn Thompson (R-PA). Read more on McKnight’s Long-Term Care News.
SNF PPS Proposed Rule Comments due June 7, 2021: In the recent PPS SNF Proposed Rule, CMS asked for comments regarding a possible parity adjustment to the PDPM rates in order to achieve budget neutrality for PDPM payment as compared to RUGs. Comments on the Rule were due on Monday June 7 and CMS has already received many comments from providers and other advocacy groups. Most of the commenters advise CMS to consider that the impact of COVID during FY 2021 has been far-reaching and is ongoing for all SNFs, beyond just COVID-positive patients or even those centers that had active cases. Commenters have pointed out that every center and care for all patients was dramatically affected by the pandemic. Most are advising CMS that making any immediate parity adjustment would be unreasonable at this time, given the extensive challenges and costs that SNFs are 1 continuing to deal with. Some advise that CMS delay any efforts to adjust payment until they can analyze data after the end of the PHE, in order to truly see what patterns of care look like without the skyrocketing costs and extensive practice changes required to manage within the pandemic period. Providers are also advocating that any future changes be phased in gradually over a period of years, so that SNFs can plan ahead in anticipation of any reductions. As CMS will have extensive comments on this Rule, we will all await the Final Rule to see what action, if any, is taken for the 2022 Fiscal Year. The Final Rule is due out in August 2021.
New NIOSH Guidance Regarding N-95 Respirators: The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) has posted new guidance regarding N-95 respirators. This situational update directs that as of May 2021, healthcare facilities should return to using only NIOSH-approved respirators where needed (which excludes KN-95 respirators) and should not store or use previously used and decontaminated respirators. NIOSH has indicated that non-NIOSH approved respirators that have been stored for source control may be used where respiratory protection is not needed. The NIOSH Certified Equipment List should be used to identify all NIOSH-approved respirators.
Genesis Rehab Services has updated related internal resources, educated staff, and can work with you, our business partners to facilitate compliance with this new guidance. Please contact your GRS Clinical Operations Area Director for any needed follow-up.
UPCOMING SOLUTIONS WEBINAR
Join us on Thursday, June 17, 2021 at 1:00 PM EST for our upcoming Solutions webinar titled “Cognitive Decline: Strategies to Maximize Function.” This event is free - simply CLICK HERE to register. You can also download the 2021 Webinar Calendar HERE.
JUNE 2021 AGE IN MOTION NEWSLETTER
CLICK HERE to download the June 2021 Age In Motion newsletter.
