CARY, N.C. (January 13, 2021)—Accreditation Commission for Health Care (ACHC), a nonprofit accreditation organization with deeming authority from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), has awarded its inaugural Palliative Care Accreditation to Indianapolis-based Paradigm Health, a division of Paradigm Living Concepts. The three-year accreditation term acknowledges Paradigm’s commitment to quality patient care and excellent operations.

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (January 13, 2021)—On January 8, the State of Tennessee announced that its “block grant” waiver request for TennCare (the state Medicaid program) was approved by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) after a year of negotiation. This new agreement will allow TennCare to administer the program with less oversight from the federal government and is intended to give more flexibility.

DALLAS (January 12, 2021)—A new industry trends report based on a survey conducted by Axxess, a technology provider for care at home, reveals nearly three-quarters of respondents from large care at home organizations indicated their organization would require COVID-19 vaccinations and 90% indicated their organization would increase staff resources for diversity, equity and inclusion in 2021.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (January 8, 2021)—Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that the Home Health Value-Based Purchasing (HHVBP) Model has been certified for expansion through rulemaking beginning no sooner than Calendar Year (CY) 2022. The model, implemented in nine states, has resulted in an average 4.6% improvement in home health agencies’ quality scores as well as average annual savings of $141 million to Medicare.