Home Health & Hospice Week

Hospice eligibility based on terminal illness is a hot button topic for agencies ranging from the HHS Office of Inspector General to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to the Department of Justice. You can beef up your understanding of Certification of Terminal Illness requirements in a newly updated module from HHH Medicare Administrative Contractor Palmetto GBA.

For example: The physician narrative requirement torpedoes many claims in medical review. The updated module reviews narrative requirements, including that the narrative “must not contain checkboxes or standard language used for all patients,” and must include “a statement, above physician signature, that indicates the physician confirms he/ she composed narrative based on his/her review of patient medical record or … examination of the patient.”

The module is at https://palmettogba.com/internet/eLearn2.nsf/cte/story.html.