Home Health Care Issues In OIG 2013 Annual Work Plan
1. Home Health Agency Face-To-Face Requirements. OIG will be reviewing Medicare eligible home health services to be certain that face-to-face encounters are taking place as required under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. Previous studies indicated that only 30% of beneficiaries had at least one face-to-face visit with the physician who ordered the home health.
2. Criminal Background Checks By Home Health Agencies. The OIG will be reviewing home health agencies to determine whether they are complying with state requirements that require criminal background checks to be conducted on home health applicants and employees. Federal law requires compliance with state and local laws regarding criminal background checks. In previous OIG reviews, 92% of nursing homes employed at least one individual with criminal convictions.
