Home Health & Hospice Week

Question-and-answer set involves 30 items on drug reporting alone.

The deadline for vastly expanded claims data reporting for hospices is nearly upon you — are you ready?

If not, a new question-and-answer set provided by Medicare contractors may help you with the requirement taking effect April 1. “Through a cooperative effort, the Home Health & Hospice (HH&H) Medicare Administrative Contractors  have developed an extensive list of FAQs to assist hospice providers in implementing data reporting changes mandated by Change Request (CR) 8358,” they say on posts to their sites. “Answers to the most common questions can be answered by this document, including when drugs must be reported, and how they are reported on a claim.”

In fact, 30 of the 49 Q&As address drug reporting.

For example: You aren’t on the hook for reporting drugs unrelated to the terminal illness. “Only report medications for the palliation and management of the terminal illness and related conditions,” the MACs report in one of the drug reporting Q&As (#34 on CGS, Q16 on Palmetto’s). “There-fore, you will only report medications covered under the hospice benefit.”

The Q&As also contain 11 questions on visit reporting, five questions on NPIs, and two general questions. See them at www.cgsmedicare.com/hhh/education/faqs/COPE24969.html or www.palmettogba.com/palmetto/providers.nsf/ls/Jurisdiction 11 Home Health and Hospice~9H3NHM8217?opendocument&utm_source=J11HHHL&utmcampaign=J11HHHLs&utm_medium=email.

CGS and NGS are offering education sessions on the requirements on March 25 and March 26, respectively, they say on their websites.