Federal Updates on Home Health
(Feb. 11, 2025) Please note the following home health updates from LeadingAge National:
HHVBP January 2025 Interim IPRs Available. The Preliminary January 2025 Interim Performance Reports (IPRs) for the expanded Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model have been published on the Internet Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (iQIES). The quarterly IPRs provide home health agencies with the cohort assignment, performance year measure data for the 12 most recent months, and the interim Total Performance Score (TPS). Using the IPRs, agencies can assess and track their performance relative to peers in their respective cohort throughout the expanded Model performance year. The January 2025 IPRs include a new worksheet ("CY 2025 Baseline") that reports on an agency's preliminary Improvement Thresholds for the Calendar Year (CY) 2025 applicable measure set. Note that Improvement Thresholds are based on CY 2023 data for all measures in the CY 2025 measure set other than the Discharge to Community-Post-Acute Care (DTC-PAC) measure. For the DTC-PAC measure, CY 2022 and CY 2023 data are used. Instructions for accessing reports are available here.
LeadingAge National Launches Rural Provider Network. LeadingAge National is launching a new member network for rural providers. Its first meeting will be Feb. 19th at 3 p.m. ET. The network will identify and address the unique challenges facing aging services organizations in rural areas and increase the visibility of these critical issues at the national level. This group will bring together stakeholders in LeadingAge member communities nationwide to discuss problems like staffing shortages, limited resources, geographic isolation, and more. The network will serve as a forum for members to share information and discuss challenges about best practices in rural health care delivery for older Americans. The group will convene a bimonthly network call inviting members to bring forth important and timely topics impacting providers. Sign up for the Network today!
CMS Releases Quarterly OASIS Q&A. In January, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the quarterly compilation of questions received on how to properly complete the home health Outcome and Assessment Information Set (OASIS). For the first quarter of the year, most questions focused on the implementation of the OASIS all-payer data collection. Currently, home health agencies are voluntarily allowed to submit OASIS data on patients from other payer sources beyond Medicare and Medicaid. As of July 1st, home health agencies will be required to submit OASIS on all patients.
Proposed DEA Rule: New E-Prescribing Category of Controlled Substances for Home Health, Hospice, and Other Settings. Comments on the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) proposed rule, released in the Biden administration’s final days, are due March 15, 2025. LeadingAge National will be discussing the proposed rule with members to get feedback and insights on any issues or barriers this may create for patients accessing controlled substances. Read LeadingAge National’s analysis of the rule here.
Contact: Meg Everett, meverett@leadingageny.org, 518-867-8871