Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is issuing a statement on the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF-PAI) V4.0 and compliance with the Quality Reporting Program (QRP) to address concerns brought forth by the IRF provider community. Additionally, CMS is publishing a Q&A…… Continue reading CMS Statement on IRF PAI and Compliance with the QRP

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The September 2022 Release of the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) data is now available on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC). The data are based on quality assessment data submitted by IRFs to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) from…… Continue reading Care Compare September Release of IRF and LTCH QRP Data Now

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS posted the revised QSO-21-08-NLTC on Monday, September 26, 2022. This QSO Memorandum does not apply to Nursing Homes/LTC. Ending the COVID-19 FIC Survey and Tool for Acute and Continuing Care: Returning to the Existing Standard Survey Process CMS has always focused its regulatory and oversight…… Continue reading COVID-19 Focused Infection Control Survey Tool for Acute and Continuing Care Providers and Suppliers (REVISED)

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) temporarily waived certain Medicare restrictions on telehealth—the delivery of some services via audio-only or video technology. Use of telehealth services increased from about 5 million services pre-waiver (April to December 2019) to…… Continue reading GAO Report: Medicare Telehealth – Actions Needed to Strengthen Oversight and Help Providers Educate Patients on Privacy and Security Risks

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare An update to the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Quality Reporting Program (QRP) Annual Increase Factor (AIF) Table for Reporting Assessment-Based quality measures (QMs) and standardized patient assessment data elements to CMS is now available. This document has been updated to reflect the data elements that will…… Continue reading IRF QRP AIF Table for Reporting Assessment-Based QM and Standardized Patient Assessment Data Elements and Data Collection and Final Submission Deadlines Affecting FY 2025

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare (Wednesday, September 21, 2022) the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, through its Administration for Community Living, released the 2022 National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers. It highlights nearly 350 actions the federal government will take to support family caregivers in the coming year and more than 150 actions that can be…… Continue reading HHS Delivers First National Strategy to Support Family Caregivers

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Effective October 4, 2022, a report retention time period will be applied to user-requested or auto-generated Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) reports in the internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES). When the report retention changes are implemented, reports that are older than the pre-defined number of…… Continue reading Report Retention Change for IRF Reports in iQIES

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Effective October 4, 2022, a report retention time period will be applied to user-requested or auto-generated Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) reports in the internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES). When the report retention changes are implemented, reports that are older than the pre-defined number of…… Continue reading Report Retention Change for LTCH Reports in iQIES

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the December 2022 Refresh. The data contained within the Preview Reports are…… Continue reading LTCH Provider Preview Reports – Now Available

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) Provider Preview Reports have been updated and are now available. These reports contain provider performance scores for quality measures, which will be published on Care Compare and Provider Data Catalog (PDC) during the December 2022 refresh. The data contained within the Preview Reports…… Continue reading IRF Provider Preview Reports Now Available