Industry Notes:
Use This Workaround To Sidestep Hospice NOE Glitch
Published on Thu Mar 24, 2011
The good news is one nagging hospice claims system error is resolved. Top on the list of hospices' claims submission problems is a glitch with hospice notices of election (NOEs). The problem: "On Notice of Elections(NOEs) (type of bill 82A or 81A), hospice providers are not able to access the NPI field for the OTH PHYS line on the FISS Claim Page 03," regional home health intermediary Cahaba GBA says on its website. "Hospice notices of election (NOE) transactions require the attending physician and the OTH physician," explains HHH MAC subcontractor National Government Services in an e-mail to providers. "Therefore, NOEs are rejecting with reason code E9351." The solution: Eventually a system fix will resolve the problem. In the meantime, NGS advises its providers to sit tight. But HHH MAC Palmetto GBA offers this stopgap solution: "The approved workaround is for providers to leave the 'OTH PHYS' NPI field blank." [...]