About Home Health

The home health care industry might find several changes to regulations in 2014. A number of the compliance deadlines for these new Home Health regulations are right around the corner, so you intend to ensure your agency is ready. Non-compliance can place you in danger for costly fines and other penalties. As home health care consultants, we’ve seen too many agencies defer compliance until the last minute and end up paying fines that might have been avoided. Let’s take a closer look at a number of the regulations you need to be equipped for this year.

Compliance with HIPAA should always be considered a concern for home health care agencies. In 2014, HIPAA will include a final rule that has several provisions regarding the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act or HITECH. The new rules require increased protection and control of patient information. While home health care agencies will always be needed to adhere to HIPAA, all business associates for agencies must now comply as well.


ICD-9 will officially be replaced by ICD-10 codes beginning in October of the year. Many home health care agencies have previously made preparations for the switch to ICD-10, but when you haven’t, it’s time to work on having your agency ready for the change to the new code sets. Including preparing everyone in your organization, from employees in the field to office staff.

Failure to use the new codes–and ensure your clinical staff are charting to the codes–can have a massive financial impact, causing delays in reimbursement, reducing cash flow, and determining whether Medicare accepts billing from your own agency in the future. You can find out about the new ICD-10 home health regulations and what the conversion means for the agency on the

You aren’t required to offer medical health insurance under the Affordable Care Act if your agency has 50 or fewer employees. Under the new law, some businesses with 50 or even more employees must create a payment in the Employer Shared Responsibility Payment in 2015 or 2016 for not providing coverage. If you have fewer than 25 full-time employees, your agency may qualify for a small company health care tax credit if you use the Small Business Health Options Program (SHOP) to offer insurance. The tax credit can be obtained to agencies that pay at the very least 50 percent of the expense of single coverage for employees.