Eli's Hospice Insider

Add one more Medicare billing system glitch to your list — and an action item to counteract it.

The problem: “When the hospice bills a PPV/Medicare Pneumococcal/Influenza claim to Medicare and it approves, their monthly claim is Returned to Provider (RTP) with Reason Code U5601,” HHH Medicare Administrative Contractor Palmetto GBA says in a post to its website. “The reason code states a date of service overlap of a previously accepted claim.”

The solution: Palmetto hasn’t figured out the problem yet, the MAC admits. But in the meantime, “due to the difference in reimbursement amounts, it is recommended a hospice bill their monthly claims and hold their Pneumococcal/Influenza claims until further direction is received.”