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Earlier this week, Cal/OSHA released the 2017-18 Report on Workplace Violence Incidents, which addresses hospital incidents reported through the Cal/OSHA online reporting tool.
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The discount deadline for the annual federal policy event has been extended. CHA encourages hospital leaders to register before the March 1 early bird deadline to receive substantial savings.
This year, CHA will combine its federal advocacy event for members — formerly known as the California Congressional Action Program — with the American Hospital Association’s (AHA) Annual Membership Meeting, April 7-10 in Washington, DC. The combined programs maximize hospital leaders’ time and investment for just one fee.
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The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has rescinded regulations — effective Jan. 1 — under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) related to the use of financial incentives in employer-sponsored wellness programs. The EEOC’s action should prompt employers to review their employer wellness programs, particularly if a program offers financial incentives.
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In the federal fiscal year (FFY) 2019 inpatient prospective payment system final rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its second year of a three-year transition to use Worksheet S-10 data for distributing Medicare disproportionate share hospital (DSH) uncompensated care payments. CMS will use two years (FFYs 2014 and 2015) of Worksheet S-10 cost report data and one year of proxy data to distribute the uncompensated care payments for FFY 2019.
In response to comments from CHA, CMS noted in the final rule that it planned audits of the data in fall 2018. In late August, CMS began audits of selected hospitals’ FFY 2015 cost reports. A number of hospitals in California have received this data request, and must respond by Sept. 28.
Because CMS has given the Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) only until the end of January to complete the audits, providers have a short timeline to complete this work with their MACs. Though CHA acknowledges that this presents a challenge from both technical and resource perspectives, CHA highly encourages hospitals that have received a request to respond as quickly as possible. Early communication with Noridian (or its subcontractor, Figliozzi & Company) is critical under this short timeline. A copy of the letter Noridian sent to select providers requesting documentation is attached; these letters are consistent across all MACs.
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Yesterday, Gov. Newsom released his first proposed state budget, totaling $209 billion for 2019-20. CHA was pleased to see health care as a primary focus of the budget. Other clear priorities are early childhood development, housing and paying down debt.
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As reported in CHA News last week, the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) recently sent hospitals invoices covering the first six fee-for-service cycles of the 2017-19 Hospital Fee Program. The attached draft model incorporates those invoiced amounts, as well as the supplemental fee-for-service payment amounts approved last month by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid (CMS) services. Notably, the “Gain.Contribute” tab in the model includes a summary, by state fiscal year, of the estimated fee and payment amounts for the 30-month program period. CHA is in the process of creating hospital-specific fee and payment schedules, which will be distributed within the next week.
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As reported in CHA News last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services approved the supplemental fee-for-service payments and overall tax structure of the 2017-19 hospital fee program. CHA is working with the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) to update the draft model so hospital-specific implementation schedules can be distributed by the end of this month. DHCS expects the first round of invoices will be sent to hospitals within the next month, with a due date in late February. As soon as the exact timing is finalized, CHA will notify members via CHA News.
Now that the fee-for-service component of the program has been approved, DHCS has turned its attention to the managed care components of the program. As previously reported in CHA News, the new federal Medicaid managed care rules require significant changes to how supplemental Medi-Cal managed care payments are made through the hospital fee program. Effective July 1, 2017, roughly half of the supplemental Medi-Cal managed care payments must be transitioned to a directed payment methodology. Under the directed payment method, supplemental payments can be made only to network providers based on utilization in the encounter data file from the current rate year.
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The phrase “Black women, mothers, and birthing people” is used throughout this three-part series to recognize people who identify as non-binary, honor surrogates, and pay respect to those who have lost a child.
Despite being on the books for nearly 30 years, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) continues to be a source of confusion for staff and a public relations nightmare. Fines have recently doubled, and may result in sanctions – recently for one hospital in excess of $1 million.
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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) regularly provides important updates about post-acute care quality reporting programs, including training opportunities, public reporting, and reminders of data submission and review deadlines.
Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities
Data Submission Deadline Approaching Assessment data for the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility Patient Assessment Instrument (IRF PAI) and data submitted to CMS via the Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network for July-September (Q3) of calendar year 2017 are due no later than 11:59 (PT) on Feb. 15.
Long-Term Acute Care Hospitals
Data Submission Deadline Approaching Assessment data for the Long-Term Care Hospital Continuity Assessment Record and Evaluation (LTCH CARE) and data submitted to CMS via the Center for Disease Control and Prevention National Healthcare Safety Network for July-September (Q3) of calendar year 2017 are due no later than 11:59 (PT) on Feb. 15.
Training Materials from the December 2017 Long-Term Care Hospital Quality Reporting Program provider training are now available under “Related Links” on CMS’ dedicated long-term care hospital web page.