Using the Medicare Cost Report to Benchmark and Improve Home Health Performance
The Medicare cost report is more than an annual compliance requirement. It can also be a valuable tool for understanding how a home health agency’s financial and operational performance compares with its peers. In this session, attendees will explore key Medicare cost report benchmarks for home health agencies and learn how to interpret measures such as margins, revenue, visit utilization, direct and indirect costs, and other performance indicators. We’ll also discuss practical cost report best practices that can improve data accuracy, strengthen benchmarking, and help agency leaders get more value from the information they are already required to report.
Objectives
By the end of this session, participants will be able to:
- Identify key Medicare cost report benchmarks for evaluating home health financial and operational performance.
- Interpret differences between an agency's results and relevant peer benchmarks and identify areas that warrant further investigation.
- Recognize cost report preparation practices that improve the accuracy and usefulness of reported data, including appropriate classification and allocation of costs.
- Use cost report data as a management tool, not simply a compliance filing, to support operational and financial decision-making.
Featured Speaker
Amanda Thomas, CPA
Managing Director, Forvis Mazars
Amanda is a member of the Forvis Mazars healthcare practice, providing an array of consulting services for home care and hospice organizations nationwide with more than 15 years of experience. She leads the Forvis Mazars’ Southern Missouri home care and hospice reimbursement team, which prepares more than 400 home care and hospice cost reports annually.
In her role as the reimbursement leader, Amanda oversees the firm’s home health and hospice Medicare cost report benchmarking databases. The databases are used for operations reviews, presentations, and analyzing industry trends. She also provides general financial consulting services and helps manage the home care and hospice billing and revenue cycle services team, which provides outsourced billing and revenue cycle solutions for organizations throughout the nation.
Amanda also has experience with accounting outsourcing and employee benefit plan audits, including defined contribution plans such as 403(b) and 401(k) plans. Prior to focusing on consulting services for home care and hospice providers, Amanda performed financial statement audits and reviews for home care, hospice, senior living, continuous care retirement communities, and other healthcare providers.
Amanda is a member of the American Institute of CPAs and Missouri Society of CPAs. She routinely presents educational seminars for the National Alliance for Care at Home and other state industry organizations. She is a member of the Home Care & Hospice Financial Managers Association, serving on its Emerging Leaders, Payment and Reimbursement, and Women in Leadership Committees. She also served for two years as the treasurer of Diaper Bank of the Ozarks, a local nonprofit.
She is a graduate of Drury University, Springfield, Missouri, with a B.S. degree in accounting.
Registration
Member - $50
Non-member - $100
