CMS has announced the Medicare home health prospective payment system will see several changes in 2015, and the changes are aimed at improving efficiency, flexibility, payment accuracy and quality.
The rule imposes the following changes:
- Increases to the national, per-visit payment rates
- Reduces the non-routine medical supplies conversion factory by 2.82 percent
- Reduces the national, standardized 60-day episode rate by $80.95, bringing it to $2,961.38 in 2015.
Given the changes, CMS predicts Medicare payments to home health agencies in 2015 will be reduced by 0.3 percent, or roughly $60 million.
This recent rule is one of several changes for 2015 that reflect a broader administration-wide strategy to deliver better care at a lower cost by finding better ways to deliver care, pay providers, and use information.