OASIS Alert

True or False: The date in OASIS item M090(Discharge/Transfer/Death Date) does not have to be the same as the date of the last billable visit.

Answer: True. Look to your agency's policy when answering M0906, experts advise. The date in M0906 can be, but does not have to be, the date of the last billable visit, says home care expert Lisa Selman-Holman, consultant and principal of Selman-Holman & Associates in Denton, TX. But some software forces the dates to be the same, she adds.

Agencies may want to wait to discharge the patient until they have finished coordinating post-discharge care and have handed over responsibility. But be sure you discharge the patient on the date the doctor orders the discharge or by the end of the certification period, if you have no orders for further care.

Requirement: If you learn after the fact that the patient died or was transferred to an inpatient facility, the date in M0906 must be the date the patient died or was transferred--not the date you learned of it, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services instructs in its OASIS frequently asked questions.