CMS Provides Updated Guidance for Use of Waivers

CMS has updated its guidance and provided specific instructions for using the Qualified Hospital Stay (QHS) and benefit period waivers, as well as how this affects claims processing and SNF patient assessments.

  • To bill for the QHS waiver, include the DR condition code. To bill for the benefit period waiver:
    • Submit a final discharge claim on day 101 with patient status 01, discharge to home.
    • Readmit the beneficiary to start the benefit period waiver.
  • For ALL admissions under the benefit period waiver (within the same spell of illness):
    • Complete a 5-day PPS Assessment. (The interrupted stay policy does not apply.)
    • Follow all SNF Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM) assessment rules.
    • Include the HIPPS code derived from the new 5-day assessment on the claim.
    • The variable per diem schedule begins from Day 1.
  • For ALL SNF benefit period waiver claims (within the same spell of illness), include the following:
    • Condition code DR – identifies the claims as related to the PHE
    • Condition code 57 (readmission) – this will bypass edits related to the 3-day stay being within 30 days
    • COVID 100 in the remarks – this identifies the claims as a benefit period waiver request

Note: Providers may utilize the additional 100 SNF benefit days at any time within the same spell of illness.

Claims are not required to contain the above coding for ALL benefit period waiver claims.

Example: If a benefit waiver claim was paid utilizing 70 of the additional SNF benefit days and the beneficiary either was discharged or fell below a skilled level of care for 20 days, the beneficiary may subsequently utilize the remaining 30 additional SNF benefit days as along as the resumption of SNF care occurs within 60 days (that is, within the same spell of illness).

Additional instructions can be found in the article if you previously submitted a claim for a one-time benefit period waiver that rejected for exhausted benefits.

CLICK HERE to view the MLN Matters article.

CLICK HERE for the updated list of blanket waivers available.

CMS to retire the original Compare Tools on December 1

Use Medicare.gov’s Care Compare to find and compare health care providers.

In early September, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released Care Compare on Medicare.gov, which streamlines the eight original health care compare tools. The eight original compare tools – like Nursing Home Compare, Hospital Compare, Physician Compare – will be retired on December 1st. CMS urges consumers and providers to:

  • Use Care Compare on Medicare.gov and encourage people with Medicare and their caregivers to start using it, too. Go to Medicare.gov and choose “Find care”.
  • Update any links to the eight original care tools on your public-facing websites so they’ll direct your audiences to Care Compare.

With just one click on Care Compare, easy-to-understand information about nursing homes, hospitals, doctors, and other health care providers is available.

Information about health care providers and CMS quality data will be available on Care Compare, as well as via download from CMS publicly reported data from the Provider Data Catalog on CMS.gov.


Direct links to the tools & additional resources

Care Compare on Medicare.govhttps://www.medicare.gov/care-compare/

Provider Data Catalog on CMS.govhttps://data.cms.gov/provider-data/

Care Compare resources for consumers and partners – Medicare blog, Promotional video, Conference card  

Full Press Release: https://www.cms.gov/newsroom/press-releases/cms-care-compare-empowers-patients-when-making-important-health-care-decisions

Triumphs During Trying Times

The holiday brings with it an important time of reflection. As we gather around our proverbial table with you as part of our Reliant family, we pause to remind ourselves that despite the profuse and unique challenges of 2020, there were numerous successes for which to be grateful. While the list of obstacles at times seemed insurmountable, we continued to be a light to our patients – constantly adapting, advocating, evolving, leaning on our interdisciplinary team members, and showing up despite unsettling moments, and at times, heartbreaking losses.

Essential staff have risen as infection control heroes. We protected our residents, ourselves, and our loved ones through diligent processes as vigilance became a top priority. We met these challenges by solidifying our knowledge of infection prevention and control, provision of care for those in isolation, and proper use of personal protective equipment. The procedures and protocols developed this year will, no doubt, continue to ensure everyone’s safety in the long run.

Isolation and quarantine became a daily reality in an attempt to prevent and mitigate infection spread. Reliant clinicians continue to combat this by brainstorming and executing some impressive, heart-warming, therapeutic activities that provide much needed social interactions, safely. For example, our Sterling Oaks Rehab team built an actual lemonade stand to help the residents celebrate the end of summer, Northern Nevada Veterans Home created a resident carnival for their patients, and there were many more examples. They also incorporated daily care needs into their skilled treatment sessions to assist nursing staff. Countless other interdisciplinary teams facilitated “visits” through video calls or even through windows with patients and their families during quarantine.

This year, thousands of long-term care providers and therapists banded together to make their voices heard. Our respective, discipline-specific associations and The National Association for the Support of Long Term Care (NASL) enabled a multitude of health care providers to voice their concerns creating a powerful advocacy force and gateway to facilitate action. Advocacy measures impacted bipartisan legislation to continue to fight against cuts that would affect service provision for those who need it the most, proving that advocacy does matter!

As vaccine and treatment options appear imminent, even on the cusp of again increasing cases, we can go forward with knowledge, confidence, and determination to continue to protect and fight for our residents.  So this year, as we sit around our “Reliant table” and share feelings of gratitude with and for one another, despite having to hold each other’s gloved hands and speak through masks, we hope you feel and sense accomplishment and gratitude, and that you are smiling under those masks, knowing that we stood together on the precipice of the unknown and found resilience, meeting daily demands with continued hope beyond the present circumstances. 

The Top 7 Health Benefits of Gratitude

It’s been said that the two most powerful words in the English language are “Thank You.” But did you know that adopting an attitude of gratitude also can have a tangible, positive impact on your health? Here are some ways being grateful can boost your spirit and contribute to your overall quality of life.

  1. Lower Blood Pressure. In a 2007 study, researchers found that people were instructed to “count their blessings” once a week showed a significant decrease in their systolic blood pressure.
  2. Lower Risk of Depression. According to Sanam Hafeez, M.D., gratitude reminds us that not everything in our lives is bad and can give us motivation and a sense of hope that can protect us from feelings of depression.
  3. Better Sleep. In a research project of 65 people with chronic pain, those who were assigned a daily gratitude journal assignment reported a half an hour more sleep than those who were not. In other studies, the discipline of gratitude has caused people to report a faster time to sleep, improved sleep quality and more alertness during the day.
  4. Reduces Stress. Because gratitude activates the parasympathetic nervous system, it can stave off stress which has very well-known destructive health implications.
  5. Increased Energy. Multiple studies have correlated vitality and gratitude, and because gratitude increases physical and mental well-being, it can lead to increased energy levels.
  6. Improved Self Care. Grateful people are more likely to exercise and take care of their health according to a 2012 study. They are more likely to have regular check-ups and take precautions to improve their health.
  7. Boost Mental Strength. For people who have experienced traumatic events, gratitude has been shown to help buffer the long-term impact of that trauma and can lead to much greater resilience.

Celebrating a Diabetic-Friendly Thanksgiving

November is American Diabetes Month, and this week, we may have an opportunity to see loved ones either in person or virtually to celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. We’ve put together a few diabetic-friendly Thanksgiving recipes in a downloadable cookbook that you can use this week for you.

While many patients and residents may have a clinical diagnosis for Type II Diabetes, there are some clinical presentation characteristics that can help us identify those who may be undiagnosed.

•          Increased thirst

•          Frequent urination

•          Extreme hunger

•          Blurred vision

•          Fatigue

•          Unexplained weight loss

•          Slow-healing sores

•          Tingling, burning, or numbness in feet and hands

•          Pain in joints or muscles

•          Frequent infections

•          Diabetic ketoacidosis