On the 11th of April, 2022 the centers for nursing home billing firms released a rule proposal that will amend medicare payments policies and rates of skilled nursing establishments (snf) to the period 2023. The SNF (skilled nursing facility prospective payment system) contains proposals regarding the SNF quality reporting program (billing) as well as the SNF value-based program (vbp) for 2023 as well as future years. This rule proposal cms is releasing this rule to comply with the legal requirement to amend Medicare policy on payment for nursing homes on a regular basis.
Nursing Home Billing Companies
What is SNF billing?
The nursing home billing services establish SNF quality reporting obligations, according to the improving medicare post-acute care transformation act of 2014 (impact act). The impact act requires the reporting of standardized patient assessment data in relation to quality measures, as well as the elements of standardized patient assessment data. The Act calls for the submission of information related to the quality of measures, use of resources as well as other areas.
Furthermore, the impact Act requires assessment data to be standardized and interoperable in order to allow for data exchange between post-acute as well as other providers. It is the impact Act intended for standardized post-acute health data to improve Medicare beneficiaries’ outcomes by sharing decision planning, coordinated care, and improved discharge planning. If an SNF does not submit the required data of quality and quality data, the SNF is at risk of an additional two percentage (2 percent) points reduction from the annual payment update (APU) to the current performance year.
Skilled Nursing Facility Quality Reporting Program (SNF billing) Update
Nursing home billing companies are a pay-for-reporting program. SNFs that fail to meet reporting requirements face an increase of two percentage points (2.0) decrease in their annually scheduled report. cms propose to introduce a new measure to improve SNF billing. Nursing home billing organizations are also planning to modify the date of compliance for specific SNF billing rules. Additionally, cms are proposing to modify the text of the regulation regarding information submission for nursing home billing. Additionally, cms are seeking comments on three Requests for Information (RFI).
Influenza Vaccination Coverage
Long-term residents in institutions, which are typical of higher years, are more at risk of contracting flu due to general frailty and comorbidities, frequent interactions with residents from other facilities as well as interactions with visitors as well as exposure to staff members who work in multiple establishments. Thus the monitoring and reporting of influenza vaccination rates for HCP are vital as HCP are at risk of contracting influenza from residents and spreading the resident’s influenza.
cms is proposing to adopt a brand new measure called the Influenza Vaccination Coverage among Healthcare Personnel (HCP) measure that will be part of the SNF billing that will be implemented starting in FY 2025. home health billing companies. Due to the fact that vaccination rates are lower among HCP are generally lower in long-term care environments like SNFs in comparison to other settings for care, cms believe the proposed measure could improve the number of flu vaccinations given in SNFs as well as increase patient safety and improve the accessibility of healthcare offered in healthcare in the SNF setting.
Revised Compliance Date for Certain SNF billing Requirements
cms is proposing to modify the date for compliance to some nursing home medical billing reporting requirements, including those relating to the Transfer of Health Information measures and certain standardized assessments of patient information elements (including race ethnicity, preferred language, health literacy, as well as social isolation) until October 1st, 2023.
It is also crucial to ensure that the process of collecting this information with Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities and Long-Term Care Hospitals that will start collecting the information on October 1st, 2022 in addition to Home Health Agencies which will begin collecting this information on January 1, 2023.
Inclusion of the billing
In the current proposed rule, cms are requesting stakeholder feedback regarding the inclusion of the billing Short Stay Discharge measure within the SNF billing for future year-long programs, as well as whether there are any obstacles or implications we should take into consideration as a possible future rule.
We have shared these proposed changes for SNF billing to provide a reference You can go to the below-listed cms sites for a more in-depth understanding. Medcare MSO Medical Billing is a leading medical billing company providing complete revenue cycle services. Our team is on check on updated policies for billing to ensure the accuracy of reimbursements from insurance. For more information about our comprehensive health billing and code solutions for SNFs.
