Weatherbee Resources Higher Levels of Care: Proactive Steps to Limit Government Scrutiny

In this webinar, Healthcare partner Howard Young will present alongside Family Hospice & Palliative Care Chief Medical Officer, Keith Lagnese. The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has issued several reports highlighting its concern about longer General Inpatient Care (GIP) lengths of stay and greater utilization of this higher level of care. A 2016 OIG report indicates more than 30% of hospice patient GIP stays billed to Medicare in 2012 were inappropriate.

Now, other federal enforcers, including CMS, its contractors, and the Department of Justice, are investigating hospices for issues related to higher levels of care. This webinar reviews how the OIG and other government agencies approach the use of higher levels of care, what the data shows, and assesses the available guidelines for the GIP and Continuous Home Care (CHC) levels of care.

Topics covered in this webinar include:

• Medicare guidelines for eligibility and payment at GIP and CHC levels of care
• Government approach for assessing GIP and CHC levels of care and identifying outliers
• Risk areas associated with these higher levels of care
• How proper documentation can help ensure payment