Home Health & Hospice Week

Reimbursement:

Don't Overlook These New Billing Codes Required Jan. 1

Make sure your policies and procedures are in place to track which nursing visits are for management & evaluation and observation and assessment.

Don't let new billing codes for therapy and nursing, which take effect in the new year, get lost in the chaos of other requirements that begin next month.

Starting Jan. 1, home health agencies must use five new G-codes to list services in 15-minute increments for physical therapy assistants (GXXX1), occupational therapy assistants (GXXX2), PTs (GXXX3), OTs (GXXX4), and speech language pathologists (GXXX5), regional home health intermediary Cahaba GBA says in its December newsletter for providers.

HHAs also must use two new nursing codes -- GXXX6 (Skilled services by licensed nurse, in delivery of management & evaluation of POC, or observation & assessment of patient's condition while patient's treatment regime is stabilized, in home health setting, each 15 minutes) and GXXX7 (Skilled services by licensed nurse, in training and/or education of patient or family member, in home health setting, each 15 minutes).

"CMS agreed with industry feedback that a G-code for services for the management and evaluation of the plan of care (GXXX6) should be separate from a G-code for the services for the observation and assessment of a patient's condition while a patient's treatment is stabilized," Cahaba says in the most recent Newsline. "Therefore, separate G-codes will be adopted."

Watch for: CMS will issue program instructions about the requirement soon with more specifics, Cahaba says.

Other Articles in this issue of

Home Health & Hospice Week

View All