Homecare Homebase Provides Predictive Tools for Quick Analysis of the 2017 CMS Proposed Rule
Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) September 01, 2016 -- Homecare Homebase announced last month the availability of the latest toolset within their Knowledge Link™ analytics platform that enables Homecare Homebase customers to quickly and accurately identify the effects of the proposed 2017 CMS Medicare reimbursement changes issued at the end of June. Using this functionality, Homecare Homebase users are able to immediately see the effects these changes will have on their business months before they actually take effect.
Each year CMS implements changes to the PPS reimbursement models for Home Health agencies. The proposed changes for CY 2017 are no different, including the usual updates to payment and per-visit rates, wage index, case-mix weights & scoring, and clinical & functional thresholds. In addition to these changes that Home Health agencies have grown to expect each year, CMS is also proposing a major change to the Outlier payment methodology, using a cost-per-unit approach rather than cost-per-visit.
“The change in approach for calculating Outlier reimbursement involves converting the national per-visit rates into 15 minute unit rates. Our application tracks the in-home time associated with each visit, allowing us to model the Outlier change by taking the visit length and the new per-unit rates by discipline to determine whether the claim will receive an Outlier payment.” said Andy Guarnera, Manager of Data & Analytics at Homecare Homebase. “Our model then provides an analysis on the revenue impact as well as an analysis on the visits that fall above or below the CMS expectation. This allows our customers to assess the impact this proposed change will have on their business down to a very granular level.”
Homecare Homebases' Knowledge Link analytics toolset, built on the powerful Tableau 9 platform, allows users to analyze the proposed changes with actual data from episodes completed January through June 2016. This enables agencies to compare and evaluate projected revenues based on the proposed 2017 reimbursement changes, broken down by episode types, including standard, therapy, LUPA and outliers, and allows for comparison against the new wage index.
“The proposed home health model from Homecare Homebase has been very beneficial to AccentCare, Inc.,” said Kelly Venegas, Vice President of Reimbursement. “The ability to forecast potential budget impact, using our own data, is critical to our business management. As a large and growing post-acute healthcare provider, we need reliable visibility down to the office level with the ability to analyze budget factors related to location and case mix.”
"Homecare Homebase continues to deliver market-leadings analytics tools to provide our Customers useful, real-time insight into their business," said Scott Pattillo, Vice President of Product Management at Homecare Homebase. "Our customers are quickly able to understand the effects of the proposed changes using relevant data from their business and are empowered to make better business decisions about the future of their agency and their operations well ahead of the actual deadline for the regulatory changes. We continue to closely partner with our customers to help them understand their operational data so that they can ultimately focus on the most important aspect of their business, taking care of their patients."
About Homecare Homebase, LLC
Homecare Homebase (HCHB) is a Dallas-based software leader offering hosted, web‐based data solutions to streamline operations, simplify compliance and boost clinical and financial outcomes for homecare and hospice agencies. Our customized mobile solutions enable real‐time, wireless data exchange and communication between field clinicians, physicians and office staff for better care, more accurate reporting and faster payment. Founded by industry veterans in 1999, the company is now part of the Hearst Health Network. For more information, go to http://www.hchb.com or call us toll-free at 1-866-535-HCHB (4242).
About Hearst Health
The Hearst Health network includes FDB (First Databank), Zynx Health, MCG, Homecare Homebase, MedHOK, Hearst Health International, Hearst Health Ventures and the Hearst Health Innovation Lab (http://www.hearsthealth.com). The mission of the Hearst Health network is to help guide the most important care moments by delivering vital information into the hands of everyone who touches a person's health journey. Each year in the U.S., care guidance from the Hearst Health network reaches 84 percent of discharged patients, 177 million insured individuals, 47 million home health visits, and 4 billion prescriptions.
Warren White, 9Y Communications, http://www.hchb.com, +1 214.549.5550, [email protected]
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