Home Health: MedPAC Wants HHA Payments Tied To Quality

Why This Topic Matters

It describes a potential shift in how home health agencies may be paid under Medicare and highlights the measurement systems and operational issues that could affect reimbursement, reporting, and quality improvement efforts.

Article Sections

1. MedPAC’s quality-based payment discussion

   Introduces the advisory commission’s consideration of linking home health payment to quality measurement and the policy context behind the discussion.

2. Quality measures under review

   Summarizes the broad categories of Medicare and other quality indicators being evaluated for possible use in payment policy.

3. Concerns about measurement and patient mix

   Covers concerns raised about data reliability, risk adjustment, patient characteristics, and factors outside agency control.

4. Possible next steps for Medicare and providers

   Describes the expected direction of MedPAC’s recommendation and the general support resources available to agencies if quality-linked payment is adopted.