New home health rules to be enforced starting April 1

A new rule from CMS now requires that the initial certification for home health services must include a face-to-face encounter with the patient.

While the rule has technically been in effect since Jan. 1, CMS announced earlier this year that they would not start enforcement of the requirement until April 1. The requirement can be satisfied by a non-physician practitioner, as long as the practitioner is working with the physician and not for a home health agency. It can also be satisfied by an encounter with a hospitalist.

As part of the encounter, physicians must provide documentation of who saw the patient, the date of the visit, and a description of how the clinical findings of the visit support the need for home health services. Further details will be included in the April issue of ACP Internist. In the meantime, information can be found on the CMS website.