Archive for the ‘Home Health’ Category

Wisconsin Emergency Order #35 –

Thursday, May 21st, 2020

Tony Evers, Governor of Wisconsin, and Wisconsin Department of Health Services Secretary-designee Andrea Palm have issued another emergency order, Emergency Order #35 (Order #35), directed at suspending certain administrative rules in an attempt to remove unnecessary impediments to the fight against the virus.

A major focus of Order #35 is assuring that Medicaid members retain their coverage eligibility during the COVID-19 pandemic. This provision was required under the Families First Coronavirus Response Act as a condition of eligibility to receive federal funding. Order #35 contains provisions expanding the availability of telehealth in the mental health and substance abuse areas. The order also suspends the requirement that certain mental health and substance abuse services be provided only in a face-to-face setting. This is just one of the many ways in which telehealth received a “shot in the arm” from the pandemic.

A few additional areas touched in Order #35 include:

Temporarily permitting nurses to bill Medicaid for overtime.
Suspension of certain prior authorization requirements, number of refill limitations, and prescription duration limitations.

Waiver of the requirement for parents to make certain payments for the “Birth to 3” program which provides early intervention services for children with developmental delays and disabilities.

Permits supervision of occupational therapists by electronic means in situations where close supervision is required.

Removes the requirement for health departments to conduct a community health assessment resulting in a community health improvement plan at least every five years. The “five-year” requirement is removed but the general obligation remains.


Revises DHS 34.02 (8) relating to emergency mental health services. Reference is directed toward prioritization of services in cases where the need for services outweighs resources.


Extends the time from three months to six months for newly hired mental health training staff who have less than six months experience to complete their 40 hours of documented orientation training.


Makes it easier for volunteers to meet their 40 hour training requirement. Instead of requiring all 40 hours of training be completed before commencing direct client work, trainees must now complete eight hours before starting. Ten additional hours must be completed by the end of the first and second months of volunteer work. The 40 hours of training must be completed within three months of starting volunteer work.

Deleted the minimum staffing requirements for outpatient mental health clinics under Wis. Admin. Code DHS 35. The general requirement the clinic have “a sufficient number of qualified staff members available to provide outpatient mental health services to consumers admitted to care” remains. The two specific options for meeting the minimum staffing responsibility have been removed. Previously, clinics could meet their staffing requirement by meeting any of the three specific staffing scenarios included in the regulation.

This is unlikely to be the last set of waivers issued. Providers who feel they might be restricted by state or federal regulatory requirements during the pandemic should communicate with the regulatory bodies. Federal and state regulators have been sensitive to the needs of providers that are necessary to enable them to address the unprecedented needs created by the COVID-19 virus.

I’ve recapped the highlights, the full Order #35 can be found here.

Wisconsin Home Health Quality Regulations – HHA Attorney Wisconsin

Tuesday, February 14th, 2017

Wisconsin Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements-  OASIS Data Item Set 

The reporting of quality data by home health agencies (HHAs) is mandated by Section 1895(b)(3)(B)(v)(II) of the Social Security Act (“the Act”).  This statute requires that ‘‘each home health agency shall submit to the Secretary such data that the Secretary determines are appropriate for the measurement of health care quality. Such data shall be submitted in a form and manner, and at a time, specified by the Secretary for purposes of this clause.’’

OASIS reporting is mandated in the Medicare regulations at 42 C.F.R.§484.250(a), which requires HHAs to submit OASIS assessments and Home Health Care Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems Survey (HH CAHPS) data to meet the quality reporting requirements of section 1895(b)(3)(B)(v) of the Act.

Home Health Quality Reporting Requirements

Maneuvers and Techniques Prohibited in Community Based Programs and Facilities

Thursday, February 9th, 2017

Wisconsin Prohibited Maneuvers and Techniques in Community Based Programs

Wisconsin Behavioral Health Managing Aggressive Behaviors

Wisconsin Behavioral Health Lawyer

The Wisconsin Department of Health Services (DHS) as released a memo that specifies maneuvers or techniques that may not be used at any time in community based programs and facilities. DHS deems the prohibited maneuvers or techniques to “present an inherently high risk of serious injury and even death.”  Providers are directed by DHS to immediately discontinue the use of any of the listed maneuvers.  Prohibited maneuvers, techniques, and procedures that may not be used under any circumstances include:

  • Any maneuver or technique that does not give adequate attention and care to protection
    of the head.
  • Any maneuver or technique that places pressure or weight on the chest, lungs, sternum,
    diaphragm, back, or abdomen.
  • Any maneuver or technique that places pressure, weight, or leverage on the neck or throat, on any artery, or on the back of the head or neck, or that otherwise obstructs or restricts the circulation of blood or obstructs an airway, such as straddling or sitting on the torso, or any type of choke hold.
  • Any maneuver or technique that involves pushing into a person’s mouth, nose, or eyes.
  • Any maneuver or technique that utilizes pain to obtain compliance or control, including punching, hitting, hyperextension of joints, or extended use of pressure points.
  • Any maneuver or technique that forcibly takes a person from a standing position to the floor or ground. This includes taking a person from a standing position to a horizontal (prone or supine) position or to a seated position on the floor.
  • Any maneuver or technique that creates a motion causing forcible impact on the person’s head or body, or forcibly pushes an individual against a hard surface.
  • The use of seclusion where the door to the room would remain locked without someone having to remain present to apply some type of constant pressure or control to the locking mechanism.

DHS explains in the memo that the ultimate goal is to replace such interventions with trauma-informed systems and settings, positive behavior supports, and non-coercive intervention strategies. DHS promotes recovery and healing that is consumer-driven, person-centered, trauma-informed, and recovery-based.

In addition to describing measures that are completely prohibited, DHS states that restrictive measures that are not prohibited may only be used in emergency situations in which there is an imminent risk of serious harm to self or others, or as part of an approved plan. Situations in which the person’s behavior was foreseeable based on his or her
history are not considered an emergency.   Even restrictive measures that are not directly prohibited must be avoided whenever possible and may only be used after all other feasible alternatives, including de-escalation techniques, have been exhausted. When necessary, restrictive measures may only be used with the minimum amount of force needed, and for the shortest duration possible, to restore safety.

Facilities should review their policies and practices to assure compliance with the guidelines set forth in the memo. Additional staff training should be conducted to assure compliance with these standards.   Additionally, providers should become familiar with the changing standards of care and best practices focused on building skills and techniques to de-escalate and redirect behaviors that present safety concerns, and work earnestly to promote a trauma-informed culture of care.

Personal Care Service Providers and Wisconsin Medicaid

Friday, February 14th, 2014

By John Fisher, JD, CHC, CCEP

Personal Care Service Providers – Wisconsin Medical Assistance

Wisconsin Statute § 49.45(42)(d)3 describes the types of organizations that qualify to receive Medicaid reimbursement for “personal care services.”  Qualified entities include licensed home health agencies and other entities that are certified under section (2)(a)(11) to provide personal care services under section 49.46(2)(b)6j.  The DHS does not appear to have implemented regulations that specifically describe the criteria that “other entities” must meet in order to become qualified to receive reimbursement from Medicaid for the provision of personal care services.

The applicable provisions of section 49.45(2)(a)(11) do not contain specific criteria that “other entities” must meet but simply refers to the requirement that DHS promulgate rules establishing qualifications of providers.  The referenced statutory provision does not refer specifically to the requirements that “other entities” must meet in order to qualify to receive reimbursement for personal care services.

The requirements that must be met in order to become a licensed home health are more extensive than the personal care services entity.  However, becoming licensed as a home health agency will qualify you to provide and bill for personal care services directly.  It would also permit you to bill private pay patients for skilled nursing and other

Read more here: Health Law Blog

  

Home Health and Hospice Compliance Focus

Monday, December 16th, 2013

By John Fisher, JD, CHC, CCEP

Home Health and Hospice in the Crosshairs

Governmental Enforcement Actions Against Post Acute Care Providers

Home health agencies and hospices are seeing a rapidly accelerating level of scrutiny by federal and state regulatory agencies.  Post acute providers need to take note of increased enforcement action and examine their level of readiness to undergo audit and review.  These organizations need to brush off their compliance and audit programs and take steps necessary to avoid the disruption and financial exposure that inevitably occurs when the government discovers a problem.

Compliance programs should create a systematic process to identify areas of risk that are specific to the type of provider and the specific nature of their operations.  A good place for providers to begin the risk identification process is to review OIG annual work plans, recent enforcement actions, newly enacted legislation and other external indications of areas of concern to regulators.

HHS officials have publicly stated that home health and hospices are areas of concern.  Sources of increased scrutiny include state survey agencies, CMS program integrity review organizations, the Office of Inspector General, Department of Justice and a variety of other agencies.  Regulators are widely using statistical analysis to identify potential outlier billings that may require further

Read more here: Health Law Blog