Home Health & Hospice Week

• Avoid this common mistake with hospice Notice of Election (NOE) statements, or risk your reimbursement. Valid hospice NOEs must contain five elements, RHHI Palmetto GBA says in a new article about hospice technical denials: identification of the provider; an understanding of the nature of hospice care; waiver of certain Medicare benefits; effective date of election; and beneficiary (or rep) signature. A common problem Palmetto finds on NOEs is that "the particular name of the individual hospice providing care is not identified," the intermediary cautions. "If the hospice belongs to a corporation or some other entity that has a different name, ensure the name of the particular hospice providing care is on the signed statement." Another pitfall: Medicare doesn't allow a verbal hospice election statement, Cahaba stresses in an article about NOEs in this month's provider newsletter. "The Medical Review department has found there are providers who write in 'Verbal [...]