Home Health & Hospice Week

When submitting hospice room and board charges to secure a denial, make sure you're putting them on a separate claim. So says HHH MAC NHIC in a new question-and-answer set from its March 14 "Hospice Discharges, Transfers, and Revocations -- How Your Billing Affects the Sys-tem" teleconference. "When you need a room and board denial from Medicare in order to bill another insurer, you should submit your covered hospice sequential claims as normal," NHIC explains. "You should then submit a separate noncovered claim to Medicare that only includes the room and board charges whenever possible." But while recommended, a separate claim isn't strictly necessary, NHIC admits. "If it is not possible to submit a separate claim, the room and board charges can be submitted on your covered hospice sequential claim(s)." Resource: Find out more about billing hospice room and board in NHIC's billing guide on the topic at www.medicarenhic.com/providers/pubs/J14RoomandBoardDenials.pdf.