Eli's Hospice Insider
Certify Hospice Patients'Terminal Illnesses With This Form
End guesswork in the physician narrative requirement. If you're struggling to comply with the new physician narrative requirement, you don't have to go it alone. Beginning Oct. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires physicians to include "a brief narrative explanation of the clinical findings that support a life expectancy of [six] months or less" when they certify (or recertify) hospice patients as being terminally ill, according to the final hospice rule published in the August 6 Federal Register. Good news: Regional home health intermediary (RHHI) Cahaba GBA is helping you streamline this potentially headache-inducing process. The RHHI offers this sample document* as a guideline for all hospices to use as they develop policies and procedures for complying with the physician narrative requirement: * Cahaba included a disclaimer that each agency must ensure its certification and recertification forms are correct. View the resource at www.cahabagba.com/rhhi/education/materials/quick_hospice_certification.pdf.
Eli's Hospice Insider
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