Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't waste your time with an extra face-toface visit when you don't have to.

That's the takeaway from a recent questionand- answer issued by Medicare Administrative Contractor NHIC. "If a home health patient is admitted twice within the same 90-day period for the same reason, can the first face-to-face encounter documentation be used for both admissions?" asked a home health agency in NHIC's Aug. 3 Ask the Contractor Teleconference.

"In this instance, the same face-to-face encounter could be utilized for both home health admissions," NHIC replies in the ACT summary.

But home health agencies may not like another of NHIC's answers to a F2F question quite as much. "If a home health patient was scheduled to have the face-to-face encounter on day 10, but transferred to hospice on day eight, and is now refusing to go to the doctor for the home health face-to-face encounter, would this be considered an exceptional circumstance?" a provider asked in the conference.

"The face-to-face encounter is a requirement for payment," NHIC says. "The home health services could not be billed if it does not occur."

NHIC also reminds providers that they must have the signed F2F documentation in hand before billing Medicare for an episode. "You cannot bill Medicare until you have the signed documentation," NHIC explains. "The face-to-face encounter is part of the re-certification."

Resource: The four-page ACT summary is online at www.medicarenhic.com/RHHI/billing/J14%20HHH%20ACT8311QAs.pdf.