Home Health & Hospice Week
Measurable Variables Key To Hospice Documentation
You can avoid medical necessity denials under Comprehensive Error Rate Testing by including comprehensive documentation of the hospice patient’s terminal illness, HHH Medicare Admini-strative Contractor Palmetto GBA advises in a re-cent education article for providers.
You can submit these documentation elements to support your patient’s prognosis, Palmetto suggests: History; Progression of illness/disease; Recent changes; Exacerbation of symptoms; Comorbidities; Secondary conditions; Variables that are measurable; Labs; Palliative Performance Scale (PPS)/Karnofsky scale; FAST scale for Alzheimer’s patients; Weight loss; Body Mass Index (BMI); Percentage of meals eaten; Vital signs; Interdisc-iplinary Group (IDG) meeting notes; Medication changes; Skin integrity; Recurrent aspiration; and Infections.
Resource: For a free copy of and link to the article, which also outlines documentation suggestions for GIP care, e-mail editor Rebecca Johnson at rebeccaj@eliresearch.com with "Palmetto Hospice Documentation" in the subject line.
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