Conducting Home Visits to
Private Pay Patients of a Home Health Agency (HHA)
PDF Version
of BQA 99-061 (PDF, 5 KB)
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Date: October 15, 1999 DSL-BQA-99-061
To: Home Health Agencies HHA 29
From: Sue Schroeder, Director, Bureau of Quality Assurance
The purpose of this memorandum is to inform home health providers
that the federal Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has clarified the policy
related to conducting home visits to non-Medicare/Medicaid patients of an HHA.
Home visits may be conducted to any skilled patient who grants permission, according to
the guidelines in section 2200 of the State Operations Manual, not only for initial
surveys, but for re-certification and complaint surveys as well.
HCFA instituted this policy in January 1998 after the HHA moratorium was lifted.
Recently, it came to their attention that Wisconsin, along with other states believed the
policy was limited to initial surveys only. This was not the intention.
HCFA believed that expanding the policy to all HHA surveys allows surveyors the
opportunity to assess that all patients are receiving care as indicated by the assessed
needs of the patient and the established plan of care. Since the conditions of
participation for home health agencies apply to all patients being served by the entity,
regardless of payor source, this policy is based on the premise that it is the provider
that is being approved or re-certified, not just the care provided to Medicare and
Medicaid beneficiaries.
Please direct any questions you may have to Juan Flores, Supervisor, Health Care
Regulatory Unit (replaced by Jan Heimbruch (608) 243-2086)
or Barbara Woodford, Nurse Consultant, Provider
Regulation and Quality Improvement Section (replaced by
Marianne Missfeldt, (715) 836-4036).
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