Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement
CMS Says 2-Sheet Review Notices OK
... but providers better use carbonless paper to garner the required exception. CMS Does About-Face With New Ruling The approval of a multi-page review notice is a change from CMS' earlier instructions to put the two-page form on one sheet of paper printed on the front and back. Spanish-Language Forms Still Lacking Although the expedited review notices are mandated forms, CMS hasn't yet furnished Spanish-language versions of the review form.
New information about the expedited review notice requirement continues to flow, and the latest wave may make home health providers breathe a little easier.
HHAs and hospices may put their generic, first-step expedited review notice on two separate sheets of paper, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services spokesperson Elizabeth Carmody said in a July 20 home health Open Door Forum that drew 325 callers.
Here's the catch: However, home care providers may use a two-sheet notice only if they are using carbonless paper for the forms, Carmody said. "The only reason we're allowing that exception is for that type of paper," she explained.
Allowing HHAs to put the notice on two sheets means beneficiaries won't have to sign multiple copies of the same notice, Carmody noted. Providers must keep the two sheets together, she instructed.
More info coming: CMS will issue this revision in writing when it releases about 40 new questions-and-answers on the review notice requirement.
The agency aims to post the new Q&As this month at www.cms.hhs.gov/medicare/bni/.
"It's very difficult for providers to only have it accessible in one language when they're serving bilingual or trilingual populations," Heather Vasek with the Texas Association for Home Care said in the forum.
CMS can anticipate the relatively large need for Spanish-language forms and should issue English and Spanish versions simultaneously for required documents, Vasek charged.
CMS promised it is finalizing the Spanish version, which is the only non-English version of the form it plans to issue.
HHAs wanting the forms translated into other languages can seek help from their CMS regional offices on the task, suggested forum moderator Dr. Richard Lawlor.
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CMS Says 2-Sheet Review Notices OK
... but providers better use carbonless paper to garner the required exception.
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