Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

In other news ...

• Don't miss the newest instructions from the feds on how to accurately comply with hospice claims reporting requirements.

In a new set of questions and answers, CMS has clarified how to report time on hospice claims, said CMS's Katie Lucas in a Dec. 2 Open Door Forum.

For example: When a social worker makes a phone call as part of a patient visit, do not report that call on the claim. "Only report phone calls that are not made during a reportable visit," CMS explains in a Q&A posted to its Web site Nov. 20. Hospices should report documentation time as part of their visit, however, CMS says in a separate Q&A.

"Documentation time (such as the updating of medical records) which occurs during, and as part of, an otherwise covered and billable visit to a patient can be included in the time reported for the visit," the Q&A says. "Documentation time which occurs outside the context of such a visit is not reportable."

Resource: For a link to the Q&As, go to CMS's hospice Web site online at www.cms.hhs.gov/center/hospice.asp.

Other Articles in this issue of

Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

View All