Eli's Hospice Insider

If hospice patient transfers are snarling your billing, a new job aid from a HHH Medicare Administrative Contractor may help.

“This updated job aid explains when and how a Notice of Transfer, Type of Bill (TOB) 8XC, is submitted,” MAC Palmetto GBA explains. “Direction was added to this job aid on how to bill the 8XC when the transferring hospice transfers a beneficiary on the last day of a benefit period and the receiving hospice admits on the first day of a new benefit period.”

Specifically: “Hospice transfers may occur over two consecutive days, where the transferring hospice transfers a beneficiary one day, and the receiving hospice admits on the next,” Palmetto allows in the aid. “However, system limitations will not allow the 8XC to process if submitted with first day of a new period as the admission, ‘FROM’ and ‘THROUGH’ dates when the transferring hospice transfers a beneficiary from their care on the last day of a period,” the MAC cautions. “The 8XC will RTP [Return to Provider] for U5106.”

Do this: “To avoid the RTP, receiving hospices shall bill the 8XC with the last day of the previous period as the admission, ‘FROM’ and ‘THROUGH’ dates,” Palmetto instructs. “The sequential claim that follows the transfer should reflect the actual ‘FROM’ date the receiving hospice admitted the beneficiary, i.e., the first day of the new period.”

See the five-page job aid at https://palmettogba.com/palmetto/providers.nsf/files/Hospice_Notice_of_Transfer_8XC_rev09022021.pdf/$FILE/Hospice_Notice_of_Transfer_8XC_rev09022021.pdf.