Oncology & Hematology Coding Alert

2 compliance updates keep your coding in the clear. If you've been worrying that the oncologist's illegible signature on an order is going to come back to haunt your practice in an audit, CMS has offered answers on when you're safe and when that untidy scrawl could have reviewers requesting additional information. 1. Get Signature Guidelines Down Pat With few exceptions, Medicare requires a signaturefor services and orders. CMS updated the rules and added e-prescribing language to the mix in Transmittal 327, CR6698 (www.cms.gov/transmittals/downloads/R327PI.pdf). The rules instruct contractors reviewing claims on what counts as a signature and when the services or orders must have signatures. One important exception to the signature requirement is that "diagnostic orders need not be signed by the physician," says Kelly Loya, CPC-I, CPhT, consultant with California-based Sinaiko Healthcare Consulting Inc. Still, the medical record must include information verifying the ordering physician intended the test [...]