Posted on February 9, 2010.
Specificity scores on the length when it comes to Hospice Documentation Concerned about how doctors should write their certificates of palliative care patients with terminal illness? Hospices do not receive much guidance from a recent Q & A CMS on the issue.
When you see the new CMS requirement that took effect on October 1 last year, you will discover that they have no mandate that specific language be included in the doctor's certificate.
CMS states that any language under doctor who certifies that by signing the signature, the doctor confirmed she had written the story based on his review of the medical record or, where appropriate, examination of the patient meets the requirements regulatory clearance.
The doctor is not complicated story, but it may be difficult to obtain medical records. As such, you must have a system in place where you track down the doctor to get the work, dated and signed paper certification prior bill.
In fact, some home health agencies send clerks to wait in the doctor's office and found it actually saves money in the long term. Instead, if you're caught in a fraud to change, you'll need to get the records, make copies and scans, pay a lawyer, and bring an appeal process. All this can add up to a great expense.
The scene internal compliance audits , with the help of a qualified lawyer may be cheaper in the long term. Anything found will be covered by the attorney and solicitor if you can fix what you are getting before you land in trouble with the government.
The story can be short, but simply stating "based on the patient's diagnosis, I certify that this patient has a prognosis of six months or less" will do for you.
Surveyors include the failure to have this documentation on file. If you miss a file, it can attract unwanted attention. The narrative should be specific and unique to the patient and must not contain checkboxes or boilerplate text.
