Today, January 13, 2018, is the day for which all home health agencies have been preparing since CMS finalized the first major revision to the Medicare Home Health Conditions of Participation (CoPs) in more than 20 years. Today, these new CoPs officially go into effect and all home health agencies that bill Medicare must be in full compliance.
ACHC released the revised Home Health Accreditation Standards, which incorporate the new CoPs, on November 15, 2017, and these standards are available to download on Customer Central. As of today, all ACHC customers will be surveyed to these new standards.
As always, agencies must adhere to the most stringent regulations. Requirements deleted from the CoPs may still be valid in your state, so check state licensure requirements, as applicable, prior to revising any current practice.
Make sure to take advantage of the tools and resources ACHC has developed to help educate providers on the expectations for compliance with the new CoPs and ACHC Accreditation Standards:
We will continue to work diligently to revise all educational materials as we receive more information from CMS, including the Interpretive Guidelines and survey protocols. Watch your email and Customer Central account for these updates.
If you have any questions about the new ACHC Home Health Accreditation Standards or the Medicare CoPs, please contact your personal Account Advisor.
