Home Health & Hospice Week

Rely on physician office staff to help avoid reimbursement-draining denials.

If you feel deluged with denials for face-to-face requirements, you’re not alone.

F2F is the top reason for denials of home health claims, according to HHH Medicare Administrative Contractor Palmetto GBA. "Face to Face Encounter Requirements Not Met" accounted for nearly 74 percent of denials for 32x claims and more than 77 percent of 33x claims, the MAC says on its website.

"The documentation of the encounter must include a brief narrative, composed by the certifying physician, describing how the patient’s clinical condition as observed during that encounter supports the patient’s homebound status and need for skilled services," Palmetto reminds agencies.

Tip: "The certifying physician may dictate the face-to-face encounter documentation content to one of the physician’s support personnel to type," the MAC offers. "The documentation may also be generated from a physician’s electronic health record."

For more information on F2F denials and how to avoid them, buy Eli’s Face-To-Face Docu-mentation Handbook 2014 at www.codinginstitute.com/face-to-face-documentation-handbook-2014.html.