Literature Review
All posts tagged with “Regulatory News | HHS.”
NAHC re-files lawsuit against HHS, CMS over home health cuts
07/02/24 at 03:00 AMNAHC re-files lawsuit against HHS, CMS over home health cuts Home Health Care News; by Joyce Famakinwa; 6/28/24 The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) hasn’t given up on efforts to push back on Medicare home health payment calculations. NAHC has re-filled its lawsuit against the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The lawsuit focuses on the home health PDGM budget neutrality adjustment, which imposed both permanent and temporary calculations with a methodology that NAHC believes is noncompliant with the law. The original lawsuit was filed last summer, and in April the case was dismissed by a federal court in Washington D.C. The case was dismissed on the basis that NAHC did not fully exhaust administrative appeal remedies. ... There are a number of factors that made NAHC decide to re-file the lawsuit, according to [NAHC President, William A.] Dombi. “No. 1, it will be faster,” he said. “No. 2, we are highly likely to get the same judge, as there’s a related litigation standard in an assignment of cases,” he said. One of the biggest factors that heavily contributed to NAHC’s decision was the Supreme Court ruling, which upended the Chevron Doctrine.
HHS to impose penalties on providers that block patients’ health information
06/28/24 at 03:00 AMHHS to impose penalties on providers that block patients’ health information McKnights Home Care; by Adam Healy; 6/24/24In a bid to promote easier access and exchange of patients’ health records, the Department of Health and Human Services published a final rule Monday outlining penalties for providers that block access to electronic health information. ... Fragmented and inaccessible patient data can prevent long-term and post-acute care providers from seeing the full picture of a patients’ health. Hospitals, for example, are not required to share updates about a patient’s health with the patient’s post-acute care provider. As a result, home health and home care agencies frequently cannot access patients’ electronic health records to help assess and treat patients. Three disincentives: ... First, hospitals that commit information blocking can be subject to a reduction of three quarters of an annual market basket update. Second, clinicians eligible for the Merit-based Incentive Payment System will receive a zero score in the “promoting interoperability performance” MIPS category, which can be equivalent to roughly a quarter of the clinician’s MIPS score in a given year. Lastly, providers that participate in information blocking can have their Medicare Shared Savings Program or Accountable Care Organization eligibility revoked for at least one year. ...Editor's Note: Almost any solution raises additional challenges. How does HIPAA interface with this? How might a cyberattack at a hospital (or other healthcare agency) affect the patients' other agencies, putting them at risk as well?
National aging framework outlines governmentwide initiatives promoting home-based care
06/05/24 at 03:00 AMNational aging framework outlines governmentwide initiatives promoting home-based careMcKnight's Home Care; by Adam Healy; 6/3/24The Department of Health and Human Services released a new framework for its National Plan on Aging on Thursday. The framework aims to guide a multifaceted, governmentwide approach to help caregivers and home- and community-based service providers enable older adults to age comfortably in place.
HHS puts $50M toward hospitals' ransomware fight
05/23/24 at 03:00 AMHHS puts $50M toward hospitals' ransomware fightBecker's Health IT; by Molly Gamble; 5/20/24A new agency within the National Institutes of Health is launching a $50 million initiative to develop tools for hospital IT teams that enhance their cybersecurity measures and resources to combat ransomware. On May 20, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health introduced its Universal PatchinG and Remediation for Autonomous DEfense, or UPGRADE, program. "What if every hospital could autonomously protect itself and patients from cyber threats?" That is the guiding question for the initiative, which aims to develop a tailored and scalable software suite of remediations and patches for hospitals, reducing the patching time for vulnerable healthcare products to days or weeks.
HHS finalizes disability access rule for healthcare providers
05/06/24 at 03:00 AMHHS finalizes disability access rule for healthcare providers Modern Healthcare, by Kara Hartnett; 3/2/24 The Health and Human Services Department finalized a rule that broadens nondiscrimination protections for individuals with disabilities in healthcare environments. ... When the rule takes effect July 1, healthcare organizations will be required to modify facilities and medical equipment to cater to patients' physical and sensory needs. Facilities will have to update features such as elevators and ramps to ensure they are functional and meet federal standards. In addition, healthcare organizations must ensure websites, mobile apps and virtual care programs are user-friendly for people with disabilities and remove disability status as a factor in clinical support tools.