OIG Eyes Hospice Nursing Home Payments
The OIG is taking a closer look at hospice payments for patients receiving care in nursing homes. While the review is focused on Medicare spending, it also highlights the importance of demonstrating the unique value hospice teams provide through thorough documentation, strong leadership, and consistent clinical oversight.
The best time to prepare isn't after an audit letter arrives. It's by building processes that support nurses, strengthen documentation, and ensure every chart clearly tells the patient's story.
At The Amity Group, we believe preparation is part of everyday hospice care. Through experienced PRN hospice nurses, documentation education, monthly chart audits, and DAHN, we help hospices build confidence before they're ever reviewed. #hospicecare #hospice #hospicenurse
Hospice Nurses Embrace AI: Why Blocking It Isn't the Answer
Hospice Nurses are already using Al to make their jobs easier, despite policies blocking popular tools. Instead of trying to stop them, we propose giving them a controlled, HIPAA-compliant Al tool built by a Hospice Nurse, like the DAHN app, to keep your patients information safe and your Hospice Nurses productive.
#ai #hospicenurse #hospicecare
Hospice Telehealth Billing Changes: CMS Rule Mismatch Alert
The upcoming changes to hospice telehealth billing starting January first, highlighting a discrepancy between two CMS documents. The newer rule instructs billing G0679 with revenue code 0657, and removes the requirement for another service on the claim. At The Amity Group, we emphasize the importance of using the newest instructions to ensure compliance. #hospicecare #hospicenurse #medicalbilling #cms
CMS Suspends Over 23 Million Hospice Payments: A Critical Update
We discuss how CMS has suspended more than twenty-three million payments to hospice providers, halting Medicare payments entirely while hospices continue caring for patients. We highlight the financial strain this causes, as bills for staff, pharmacy, DME, and rent remain due despite the payment suspension.
#HospiceCare #CMS #MedicareFraud
Hospice Compliance: CMS Targets Ownership, Licenses, and Staff Errors
CMS is proposing tougher actions for errors in hospice ownership, licenses, locations, and managing staff. We emphasize checking your Medicare enrollment record now to avoid small paperwork problems becoming bigger financial problems.
#hospice #cms
3 Ways Hospice Leaders Can Prepare for the New Addendum Rule
Three key steps for hospice leaders to prepare for the new addendum rule: making the addendum part of every new Medicare election, starting the medical director's review early, and building in an alert for plan of care changes.
#HospiceCare #CMS #HospiceNurse
Hospice Nurses need support, too.
Sometimes it’s covering a shift.
Sometimes it’s a hug after losing a patient.
Sometimes it’s giving a Nurse time to grieve.
To every Hospice Nurse who helps another nurse keep going: thank you.
You matter, too.
#HospiceNurse#CompassionFatigue #HospiceCare
Building a Proactive Hospice Compliance Program
Why a good hospice compliance program needs to look for patterns, be honest about recurring issues like documentation problems or long lengths of stay, and ensure leadership responds effectively to fix problems early.
#HospiceCare #HospiceNurse #CMS
CMS Telehealth Billing Update for Hospice Leaders
A critical CMS change to telehealth billing instructions for hospice leaders. An older handout still shows a removed rule, so starting January 1st, use code G0679 with revenue code 0657. We urge you to check your billing guide now to avoid claim problems.
#HospiceCare #TelehealthCare
Medicare Enrollment Mistake Could Risk Months of Hospice Payments
A single Medicare enrollment mistake could put months of hospice payments at risk, as CMS proposes going back to the date the problem began. We emphasize the importance of comparing your hospice enrollment records to what CMS has on file now, before the rule becomes final.
#HospiceCare #CMS
3 Tips to Survive the New Telehealth Billing Rule for Hospice Leaders
Three essential tips for hospice leaders to navigate the new telehealth billing rule, including using code G0679 with revenue code 0657, following the newer CMS transmittal, and ensuring your billing system is ready before January 1st. We also warn about two conflicting CMS documents.
#Hospice #HospiceCare
Hospice Nurse Burnout: A Critical Statistic Every Leader Must Address
A concerning statistic from five years of research involving over three thousand hospice nurses, where fifty-four percent report frequent emotional or physical burnout. We emphasize that burnout reflects excessive burdens, not lack of care, and highlight how investing in reasonable caseloads, documentation education, and tools like the DAHN app can help retain nurses. At The Amity Group, we are committed to this mission.
#NurseBurnout #HospiceNurse #HospiceCare