Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't let simple paperwork mistakes bury your ability to claim Medicare reimbursement. A new billing privileges regulation that hit the books Jan. 1 could stop your Medicare billing in its tracks, unless you know the ropes. Under the new rule, if your home health agency Medicare billing privileges are deactivated for any reason, you will have to undergo a state or accreditation survey to obtain reactivation, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in Dec. 18, 2009 Transmittal No. 318 (CR 6750). That goes for planned changes such as changes in ownership (see related story, this page) or deactivations for problems ranging from fraud suspicions to incorrect enrollment paperwork to not submitting claims for 12 months. Pitfall: Don't forget to send in changes to your enrollment information within 90 days of their occurrence. If you fail to report things such as a change in location, management, or billing service, [...]