The newly updated Home Health Conditions of Participation (CoPs) rule, effective July 13, 2017, aims to strengthen patients’ rights, facilitate communication among caregivers, and improve the quality of home health services. How will these revisions affect the way your home care agency communicates and delivers services?
With approximately 12,600 home health agencies providing services to roughly 5 million Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in the United States, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has long sought a solution to establish consistent levels of quality of care across its health care programs.
For the past 20+ years, this has primarily involved setting minimum-level standards and targeting health care providers that delivered substandard care.
Revisions to the current rule have been desperately needed, not only to keep pace with industry developments over the last two decades, but to achieve the far-reaching, measurable improvements CMS seeks.
Through extensive research, discussion and revision, CMS determined the new CoPs should focus on what it calls “a patient-centered, data-driven, outcome-oriented process that promotes high quality patient care at all times for all patients.”
CMS considered a range of factors, including home care industry developments, governmental agency and medical insights, industry expert recommendations, and public comments. The resulting modified rule truly modernizes the CoPs and sets the stage for significant improvements in care delivery and patient services.
In general, the new requirements aim to improve the flexibility and performance of home health agencies while increasing both patient satisfaction and desired patient outcomes.
Specifically, changes to the CoPs include:
The CoPs changes now more accurately reflect health care’s evolving stance on care coordination and the new opportunities today’s technology solutions create. As a result, home care agencies can return to doing what they do best: providing the level of care their patients need.
When the new rule goes into effect this summer, your agency must be ready to:
With fewer than six months to incorporate these changes, agencies must be prepared to meet these new communication and patient care standard requirements. Is your agency ready?
Keep pace with the changing landscape of patient care by optimizing outcomes, increasing productivity, and helping your bottom line — all while meeting the new CoPs guidelines. Contact CellTrak today to learn how our solutions can help you confidently comply with new regulations and improve patient care.