Is your tech ready for Home Health payment overhault?

When it takes effect next year, the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is expected to revolutionize home health agency operations and double billing efforts. As the biggest payment overhaul in years, it’s crucial for providers to spend 2019 preparing for — and fighting certain aspects of — PDGM’s sweeping changes.

Industry leaders from Washington, D.C.-based advoacy organization National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) and Dallas-based home health technology firm Axxess weighed the risks and opportunities of PDGM during a Friday webinar co-hosted by Home Health Care News.

Required by the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2018, PGDM was developed to improve reimbursement for all types of patients eligible for home health benefits and remove perceived incentives to over-provide therapy services, NAHC President Bill Dombi said during the webinar. Additionally, PDGM cuts the 60-day episode of care unit of payment to 30 days.

Dombi urged home health providers not to overreact to PDGM’s changes by drastically reducing their therapy offerings.