CMS issued a final rule in the July 10, 2017 Federal Register, delaying the effective date of the revised home health agency (HHA) conditions of participation (CoPs) from July 13, 2017, to January 13, 2018. In doing so, CMS acknowledged that the new CoPs contain numerous changes that require time for planning, testing, training and implementation.
CMS also announced that it anticipates publication of a final version of the Interpretative Guidelines for HHAs in December of this year, but that any delay in their release would not be cause for further delay in implementation of the new CoPs.