# Signature dates vs Date on reports as the Service date



## HeidiLeeCrawford (Apr 24, 2019)

Hello. I am billing for providers at a teaching hospital. So a resident sees the patients before the provider. However, there is usually a day in between being seen. 

For example, a Resident will see the patient on 2/14, but the provider will not see the patient till 2/15, and will add an addendum saying they "say the patient"  onto the resident's note with their signature. 

The question I have regards the date of service conformation.  I will have the resident note with the "date collected" and signed by the resident as 2/14, and then the provider will sign the report on 2/15 with their addendum. However there is no note stating the provider actually saw the patient on 2/15. I have had several providers tell me that they can bill for 2/15 since that is the day they signed it. Is this correct? I figured I needed to go by the date on the actual report since providers often dont sign on the same day they were seen due to transcription delays. 

I cannot seem to find any CMS guidelines about this, but I would love a link if anyone knows of one.


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## kivbar16 (May 16, 2019)

The providers are incorrect. The date signed is not viewed by payers as the date of service. I work for a major payer and we do not accept signed date as DOS.


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## Chelle-Lynn (May 16, 2019)

A good reference for date of service billing is listed below.

https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Ed...-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE17023.pdf


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## HeidiLeeCrawford (Jun 5, 2019)

kivbar16 said:


> The providers are incorrect. The date signed is not viewed by payers as the date of service. I work for a major payer and we do not accept signed date as DOS.





Chelle-Lynn said:


> A good reference for date of service billing is listed below.
> 
> https://www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Ed...-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE17023.pdf



Thank you both for the replies!


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