Compliance :
CONSIDER YOUR HHABN OPTIONS CAREFULLY TO MINIMIZE BURDEN
Published on Tue May 05, 2009
Visit ranges are out, but specific POC frequencies could help you. If you're looking for ways to lighten your home health advance beneficiary notice load, be sure to look in the right direction. Some home health agencies may not be issuing as many HH ABNs as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expects because they are trying to minimize the burden by using visit ranges on the plan of care. The thinking goes that even if you fall to the bottom of the visit range, you still don't need an HH ABN unless you go under it. Don't fall into this compliance trap, warns attorney Robert Markette Jr. with Gilliland & Markette in Indianapolis. Section 60 of Chapter 30 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual says although you may use a visit range on a POC, you may not use ranges on an HH ABN. CMS specified this restriction [...]