{"id":512,"date":"2018-10-03T07:00:15","date_gmt":"2018-10-03T07:00:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/?p=512"},"modified":"2018-10-02T18:46:22","modified_gmt":"2018-10-02T18:46:22","slug":"compliance-no-more-patient-rights-verbal-notice-if-rule-finalized","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/03\/compliance-no-more-patient-rights-verbal-notice-if-rule-finalized\/","title":{"rendered":"Compliance: No More Patient Rights Verbal Notice, If Rule Finalized"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"800\" height=\"532\" src=\"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Compliance.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-513\" srcset=\"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Compliance.jpg 800w, https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Compliance-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Compliance-768x511.jpg 768w, https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/10\/Compliance-210x140.jpg 210w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 800px) 100vw, 800px\" \/><figcaption>Hand writing Compliance with blue marker on transparent wipe board.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><em>Change<\/em><\/strong><strong><em>\u00a0would save HHAs $55 million per year, CMS estimates.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A new Home Health Condition of Participation requirement may get cut, thanks to the\u00a0<strong>Trump\u00a0<\/strong>administration\u2019s efforts to reduce regulatory burden for providers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In its new proposed rule aimed at reducing Medicare providers\u2019 burdens, the\u00a0<strong>Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services\u00a0<\/strong>proposes scrapping the requirement at 484.50(a)(3), which \u201crequires HHAs to provide verbal (meaning spoken) notice of the patient\u2019s rights and responsibilities in addition to the requirement to provide such notice in writing.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>CMS proposes \u201cto delete the requirement that HHAs must provide verbal notification of all patient rights,\u201d the rule says. \u201cThis change would be consistent with the &#8230; requirements for other outpatient provider types, such as hospices, ambulatory surgery centers, and community mental health centers, for which written notice &#8230; is the only requirement.\u201d HHAs still will have to abide by the verbal notification requirements in section 1891(a)(1)(E), which cover the following information:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>All items and services furnished by (or under arrangements with) the agency for which payment may be made under Medicare,<\/li><li>The coverage available for such items\/services under Medicare, Medicaid, and any other Federal program of which the agency is reasonably aware,<\/li><li>Any charges for items and services not covered under Medicare and any charges the individual may have to pay with respect to items and services furnished by (or under arrangements with) the agency, and<\/li><li>Any changes to the charges or items and services set forth in the previous bullets. HHAs\u2019 arguments against the requirement swayed CMS, according to the rule. In 2018 rulemaking, commenters said \u201cthe requirement to provide verbal notice of all rights to patients and their representatives was overly burdensome to the HHA clinicians that would be required to discuss the notice with patients when they could be furnishing hands-on patient care during that time, and lacked evidence that such explanations would result in improvements to patient safety or care.\u201d<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>Eliminating the patient rights verbal notice requirement \u201cwill certainly be appreciated,\u201d expects consultant\u00a0<strong>Kathy Roby\u00a0<\/strong>with\u00a0<strong>Qualidigm\u00a0<\/strong>based in Wethersfield, Connecticut.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The new requirements have been tough. Under the current requirements, \u201cthey exceed a normal person\u2019s ability to learn when combined with med teaching, safety, etc., which is usually taught on admission,\u201d especially for high-risk medications, judges consultant\u00a0<strong>Julianne Haydel\u00a0<\/strong>with<strong>Haydel Consulting Services\u00a0<\/strong>in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. \u201cIt adds a lot of time to the visit, which exhausts patients and is burdensome to nurses,\u201d Haydel notes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The elimination \u201cwill be a time saver on the initial visit and is practical,\u201d praises attorney\u00a0<strong>Liz Pearson\u00a0<\/strong>with\u00a0<strong>Pearson &amp; Bernard\u00a0<\/strong>in Edgewood, Kentucky. \u201cThere is only so much info a patient and\/or patient rep can ingest. Providing them the written notice is preferable and aids in assuring the other patient engagement issues can be fully addressed such as involvement in\u00a0plan\u00a0of care, establishing patient goals, etc.,\u201d Pearson tells says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>On the other hand:\u00a0<\/strong>While consultant\u00a0<strong>Pam Warmack\u00a0<\/strong>with\u00a0<strong>Clinic Connections\u00a0<\/strong>appreciates the burden reduction, she does worry that patients won\u2019t understand their rights as well under the proposed policy. \u201cThe truth is that patients rarely read the admission documents provided,\u201d Warmack says. \u201cIf they\u00a0<em>do\u00a0<\/em>read them, they often do not understand them. If a clinician doesn\u2019t talk to the patients about their rights, I seriously doubt the patient ever has a real understanding of their rights.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Compromise:\u00a0<\/strong>A good alternative might be for CMS to require verbal notice of patient rights, but not within the current \u201cprescriptive time frame,\u201d Warmack suggests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>This change is the only HHA-specific one proposed that has\u00a0an attached savings. CMS estimates eliminating the verbal notice requirement will save HHAs $55 million annually. That may be an overstatement, Pearson offers. \u201cI don\u2019t believe CMS\u2019 estimates are realistic,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>And remember:\u00a0<\/strong>The change \u201cwill require an educational effort to make the actual substance of the change evident to the providers,\u201d Roby points out. \u201cThat may make it harder for providers to appreciate the moderate relief obtained here.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>Note: Comments on the proposals are due Nov. 19. Instructions for commenting are in the rule at\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/pkg\/FR-2018-09-20\/pdf\/2018-19599.pdf\">www.gpo.gov\/fdsys\/pkg\/FR-2018-09-20\/pdf\/2018-19599.pdf<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.supercoder.com\/coding-newsletters\/my-homecare-week-alert\/medical-review-heres-how-rac-reimbursement-works-and-affects-you-156735-article\"><em>Source- SuperCoder<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Change\u00a0would save HHAs $55 million per year, CMS estimates. A new Home Health Condition of Participation requirement may get cut, thanks to the\u00a0Trump\u00a0administration\u2019s efforts to reduce regulatory burden for providers. &hellip; <a class=\"readmore\" href=\"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/2018\/10\/03\/compliance-no-more-patient-rights-verbal-notice-if-rule-finalized\/\">Continue Reading &rarr;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":513,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-512","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-compliance"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=512"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":514,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/512\/revisions\/514"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/513"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=512"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=512"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/advantagehcconsulting.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=512"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}