Hospice Insights: The Law and Beyond Meg Pekarske
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- Business
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Tune in to Husch Blackwell’s hospice podcast with Meg Pekarske for conversations with industry innovators and fundamentals for navigating hospice law. In our commitment to monitoring updates and fostering learning, each episode delivers essential information clients need for best solutions in this changing healthcare sector.
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A Command Performant(s): RAC Audits on the Rise
Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) have played a relatively limited role in the hospice space, often overshadowed by UPICs, SMRCs, and Center for Program Integrity audits. In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki talk about a recent wave of record requests issued by a RAC named Performant that focus on GIP and Continuous Home Care, and some ideas about how to respond.
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The TPE Carousel. . . Around and Around We Go
Hospice Targeted Probe and Educate reviews (TPEs) continue to be initiated all over the country. That means it’s time to check in with Husch Blackwell's Hospice team on the latest developments. In this episode, Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki discuss a new TPE topic and describe both the time-tested and emerging strategies hospices can use to respond to these reviews.
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A Fond Farewell: Musings on the End of the Medicare Advantage Hospice Carve-In Demonstration
It came as a surprise to our team when we learned that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) was ending the hospice component of Value-Based Insurance Design (VBID) on December 31, 2024. Upon learning this, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske contacted Chris Comeaux, the president and CEO of Teleios Collaborative Network, to see if he wanted to share his thoughts on this unexpected turn of events and what may be on the horizon. This is a forward-looking conversation where we explore how the lessons learned can galvanize new advocacy on the best ways to care for patients with advanced illnesses.
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OMG. . .The OIG is at it Again
Five years ago, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) initiated audits of 13 hospices and published its findings in 13 separate reports. It appears that the OIG is at it again, as multiple hospices recently have received “engagement letters” from the OIG with directions to produce medical records for 100 randomly selected claims. In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske and Bryan Nowicki discuss these OIG audits, strategies for responding, and their implications for the hospice community.
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How One Hospice Owner Got Convicted of Healthcare Fraud and How You Can Avoid That Fate
The owner of a Louisiana hospice was indicted and then convicted of healthcare fraud. How did that happen? In this episode, Husch Blackwell's Meg Pekarske and Jonathan Porter talk about how a routine audit led to a whistleblower complaint by a hospice employee, which then led to the hospice owner’s criminal conviction following trial in November 2023. Most importantly, the pair discuss how other hospices can avoid that fate.
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Hospice and Home Health Survey Perspectives: A Conversation with Kim Skehan, VP of Accreditation at CHAP
In this episode, Husch Blackwell’s Meg Pekarske is joined by friend and industry veteran Kim Skehan. In this wide-ranging conversation, they explore not only the recent survey reforms but the ways in which Kim’s decades of work as a survey consultant to hospices and home health agencies shape how she approaches her new role leading accreditation at CHAP. Kim’s perspective is truly unique. This is a must listen for everyone looking to successfully navigate the survey process.