In the fourth and final post in this blog series, we will teach your agency how to use the benefits of compliance with the Home Health Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems (HH-CAHPS) to strategically grow your business.
Compliance
A number of home health agencies are unaware of the requirement for agencies serving 60 or more patients to participate in HH-CAHPS with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services as a payer (Medicare, Medicaid, Medicare Advantage, Medicaid Advantage). That number is based on total patients served, rather than active patient census. Some agencies don’t realize when they’ve passed that 60-patient threshold.[1] There is a 2% reimbursement penalty for non-compliance, which continues for a year and leads to a reduction in the market basket rate. (To determine how much you could lose, divide your total reimbursement for 1 year by 2%.) Agencies serving fewer than 60 patients should strongly consider participating in HH-CAHPS for the beneficial reasons mentioned previously, especially if seeking growth and longevity in the industry.
CMS is increasing focus on quality reporting for OASIS and HH-CAHPS. They also included the Pay for Reporting provision in the 2015 Final Rules provided reporting thresholds. [2]
Strategy
Agencies should begin participating in the HH-CAHPS program as soon as possible. Successful businesses are not built solely on compliance. They actively engage in improving their scores to build processes that enhance patient engagement and satisfaction. By incorporating your patients’ feedback, you can improve various operational aspects of your agency. You can increase the focus on your patients by emphasizing patient-focused care in your company’s vision and mission, as well as sharing patient feedback and HH-CAHPS results with your clinicians.
The focus on quality reporting of clinical measures will only increase, and the insights provided by HH-CAHPS results will continue to take an even more important role in the transition to value-based reimbursement.
Organizations that focus on the cost of HH-CAHPS and compliance, or who neglect to routinely review their results, are missing out on a powerful tool to gain additional insights into repeat business and new referral sources. If you are not already unlocking the full potential of HH-CAHPS to drive additional growth and profitability, Axxess can extend your abilities to gain deeper insights into your patients’ experiences.
That wraps up this series on using HH-CAHPS to grow your business!
Stay tuned to our blog to find out how you can not only stay compliant with home health regulatory changes, but also grow your business.
[1] https://homehealthcahps.org/Portals/0/PandGManual_NOAPPS.pdf
[2] https://www.cms.gov/Medicare/Quality-Initiatives-Patient-Assessment-Instruments/HomeHealthQualityInits/Home-Health-Quality-Reporting-Requirements.html
