Home Health Rule Updates Reimbursement, Sets Face-to-Face Encounter Requirements

​The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a series of changes to the Medicare home health prospective payment system for fiscal year 2015 that will affect reimbursement and update requirements for program elements such as face-to-face encounters, therapy assessments, and quality reporting. The rule sets a 2.1% increase in home health reimbursement for the new fiscal year, with the new year also serving as the second of four phase-in years for a new standardized 60-day episode rate. The face-to-face encounter requirements will see three changes: an elimination of the requirement for a narrative of the encounter by the physician; a new policy that if the home health claim is denied, the claim for the physician's certifying visit will also be denied; and a clarification that the face-to-face encounter is required for certifications, rather than initial episodes.