Home Health & Hospice Week

You need to know your coverage ins and outs to figure out whether your patient's venipuncture qualifies him for the home care benefit.

The question: The Medicare Benefit Policy Manual states that venipuncture cannot be the only skilled service the patient needs to qualify for home health eligibility, an HHA asked HHH MAC NHIC in a recent Ask the Contractor Teleconference. So "if a patient has a port and the patient is only having home health services for blood draws from the port would that be covered?"

The answer: "If the port was being used to give medication, then it could be reasonable," NHIC replies in a question-and-answer document from the ACT. "If the patient's only skilled service is nursing for blood draws from a port, the patient is not eligible for services under the home health benefit."