OIG Adds New Post-Acute Focused Items to Work Plan

The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) has added/updated three new items to its Work Plan that focus on Home Health Agencies (HHAs) and Nursing Homes.

• Home Health – The OIG plans to look at whether home health claims were paid in accordance with federal requirements in a report that will be titled, “Home Health Compliance with Medicare Requirements” expected in FY 2019.
• Nursing Homes –
  • Involuntary Transfers and Discharges – The Agency will also address a media hot button topic – involuntary transfers and discharges from nursing homes – in another report expected in FY 2020. The report, “Involuntary Transfer and Discharge in Nursing Homes,” will review the extent to which State Agencies investigated and took enforcement actions against nursing homes for inappropriate involuntary transfers/discharges, the extent to which State LTC ombudsmen addressed these issues, and of course, the extent to which nursing homes are meeting CMS requirements related to the topic.
  • Adverse Events – The OIG is also planning to issue a report on a tool developed for a 2014 study on adverse events in nursing homes. The report will explain its Skilled Nursing Facility Adverse Event Screening Tool, including the nearly fifty triggers OIG used to identify potential adverse events in SNFs.

For More Information:

• View the OIG Work Plan item “Home Health Compliance with Medicare Requirements” here.
• View the OIG Work Plan item “Involuntary Transfer and Discharge in Nursing Homes” here.
• View the OIG Work Plan item “Skilled Nursing Facility Adverse Event Screening Tool” here.