Tag / documentation

by Julianne Haydel

Happy New Year!


Welcome 2019! If you have performed or reviewed any OASIS assessments since the beginning of the year, you may have been taken aback by the number of changes in the dataset. While its true that more than twice as many questions have been removed than have been added, the questions added have multiple parts and are quite different from the traditional OASIS C questions.

After being immersed in OASIS-D for a couple of weeks, I decided to rest my weary mind today and look at a chart created for a patient who broke her hip. She was admitted to the hospital where she had an ORIF followed by a rehab and then SNF stay. Guess what I found? All the OASIS questions that are new to Home Health Care. This proves to illustrate the ultimate goal of standardization across post acute care providers described in the IMPACT Act. Very simple math will let payor sources know which providers are making patients better. And of course, they already know how much providers are paid. This could be a true advantage to home health. If we can achieve results that are equal to or better than other providers, Medicare will favor home health as providers because we cost less.

The good news is that therapists should be easy to train. In fact, CMS invites a multidisciplinary approach to the OASIS-D assessment and therapists might be the key to getting it right the first time.

The new questions are not difficult but they will require time and thought in order to arrive at the correct answer. There’s a new type of fall to be counted; the intercepted fall where a patient is caught by another before they hit the ground. Witnessed and unwitnessed falls will be documented so like most good agencies, falls will be assessed on each visit. Hopefully, reports will be engineered by software vendors so that you can run reports from your software. OASIS data will tell you how many falls were experienced, what kind of falls they were, and if there was an associated injury. QA will be easy although it is possible that an initial uptick in the number of falls will be the result of constantly assessing. Be sure to count each fall only once.

Mobility has subsections A through S. That’s almost an entire alphabet. The questions are interrelated but each one needs an answer. Only one goal is needed.

The Coders has education available for your agency. Contact us and we will find a day we can spend with your staff educating them about the magical powers of OASIS-D.

To find out if you need additional training, take our OASIS-D Quiz.

And until you are confident that your agency is proficient in the OASIS-D updates, we are always available for OASIS review and/or coding.

Good luck. More later.

by Julianne Haydel

Home Health Denials


During January to March of this year, the top reasons for denial for Home Health Palmetto GBA claims were published on their website as listed below. They can be confusing in their meaning and so we have attempted to clarify as we understand them.  Without further ado:

56900—Medical Records not received
This has been the number one reason for denials for years. This occurs most often when an ADR is not seen in the system.  Alternatively, it is noticed too late to get records together and sent. To avoid this denial:

CGS encourages providers to use the Fiscal Intermediary Standard System (FISS) to check for MR ADRs at least once per week. To check for MR ADRs,
in the FISS system:

  1. Use Option 12
  2. Enter your NPI number and status/location of ‘S B60001’
  3. ADRs will appear as reason code 39700
  4. The ADR date is in the upper left corner.  45 days from the date of the ADR
    date the claim will auto cancel.

In addition to the above, we suggest:

  1. Uploading the documents when you are able.
  2. Mail the documents with proof of delivery requested.
  3. Track delivery.
  4. Retain copies of everything including the completed ADR.  If you sent by overnight mail five days before the due date and the records are not there two days later, you will have the opportunity to resend.
  5. Use the address and mail code on the ADR.  This is on the last page of the printed document and may differ from the return address on the first page.
  6. Print the ADR from the computer and include a copy with Your submitted documentation.

5FF2F Face to Face Requirements not Met

This should be easy by now but it’s still confusing. Our favorite cheat sheet is the PDF on CGS’s website. Additionally, we see denials that can be prevented by being mindful of the following:

  1. Regardless of the episode within the sequence of multiple episodes, the Face-to-Face document must be included even if it occurred six or more months ago.
  2.  The physician clinic visit or hospital documentation will be used to establish eligibility.
  3. If the information sent by the doctor does not clearly indicate that the patient is confined to the home or the need for skilled services, the agency can supplement the information.  Here’s how.  Send you Admission OASIS to the physician with a request to sign and date it, make a copy, file one in his records and return the copy to you.
  4. Teach everyone in the agency how to evaluate Face-to-Face documents.  You should never come into contact with one without reviewing it.

5F023 No Plan of Care

It is a rare event that an agency omits the plan of care from an ADR.  When an ADR is denied for not having the plan of care, agencies often assume that the mistake is on the part of the reviewer. Look again.  Often this means:

  1. The plan of care was not signed.
  2. The plan of care was signed by a Nurse Practitioner or Physician Assistant
  3. A different physician than the one listed on the plan of care signed it.
  4. The signature was not dated although there is a seperate code for this.
  5. The date of the signature was after the date of billing.

5CHG3 Partial Denial of Therapy

A reviewer will often deny visits based upon an arbitrary number of feet that a patient can walk or problems with individual notes. Because therapy adds significantly to the dollar amount of a claim, these services are an opportunity for Medicare contractors to save a few Medicare dollars at your expense. To avoid these denials:

  1. Document not only how far the patient ambulated but how they tolerated the ambulation.
  2. Take pre and post vital signs.  Document balance and gait disturbances.
  3. Always document pain and discomfort in quantitative measures.
  4. Document any complaints or new orders not related to therapy and report them to the case manager.  Follow up in writing.
  5. Most importantly, request a case conference and schedule discharge when the patient no longer needs therapy.

5FNOA – Appropriate OASIS not submitted

This code means that the OASIS was not found in the repository when the claim was billed.  Palmetto GBA explains this denial code as follows:

Under the HHPPS, an OASIS is a regulatory requirement. If the home health agency does not submit the OASIS, the medical reviewer cannot determine the medical necessity of the level of care billed and no Medicare payment can be made for those services.

Since this list was generated from 2018 claims, it is unlikely that agencies would receive this denial code in response to an ADR because they are auto-rejected upon dropping the claim.  Yet, this reason for denial is ranked fifth.  If you have received a denial for reason code 5FNOA in response to records submitted in response to an ADR, please let us know.

5T072 – No physician Orders for Services

This denial refers to services provided in excess of what the MD ordered, or services provided before an order was obtained.  This is frequently seen when a physician orders PT to evaluate the patient but there are no subsequent orders. It may also be related to the date next to the nurse’s signature on the plan of care.  Nurses new to reviewing and signing plans of care will often date their signature with the date that the document was signed instead of the verbal SOC date.

To prevent this denial:

  1. If possible (and it should be possible), include therapy frequency on the plan of care.
  2. Consider amending your standard therapy contract to state that the agency will not pay for unauthorized visits.
  3. If the therapist includes the frequency and goals on the evaluation and that is signed by the MD, make a second copy to include with orders when an ADR is received.
  4. Educate and spot check the POCs of new case managers.  If a plan of care is not complete by the first day of the episode and the nurse contemporaneously dates his signature, all days prior to the date indicated are not billable as there are no signed orders.
  5. The same signature and dating rules apply to MD signatures on interim orders.
  6. The correct way to write an order that was received earlier is:
    1. Date the document on the day it was written
    2. Begin the order with, ‘Effective on (the date you received the order)
    3. Date your signature when you signed the document.

5F041-Information does not support medical necessity

This denial is listed twice with the same code.  It is also the easiest one to avoid when clinicians understand and appreciate the importance of their documentation. To avoid this denial:

  1. Read and distribute chapter 7 of the Medicare Beneficiary Coverage Manual.  Review specific topics at case conference.
  2. As much as possible document in the home.  Some patients complain that the nurse spends too much time focusing on the computer.  To prevent that, as you are finishing up, ask the patient if you can sit and document before you leave.  That way, you are not taking your attention away from the patient and if you forgot anything, you are still in the home.
  3. Display some clinical notes that are truly impressive as examples.
  4. Turn off the ability to cut and paste if duplicate notes by a nurse are found.
  5. Read The Z-Factor on the Haydel Consulting Services blog.
  6. If your job is to review notes, focus on what is important. Medicare does not pay for spelling and grammar and there is little virtue in embarrassing your nurses.  Focus on the contents of chapter 7.

Remember that the best reason to document is to communicate the condition of the patient to other clinicians.  You don’t have the luxury of shift change report.

5T070 – Visits/Supplies/DME Billed Not Documented/Not Documented As Used

Although this code includes visits, supplies and DME, Palmetto GBA’s explanation of this denial appears to be limited to visits.

The services(s) billed (was/were) not documented in the medical records submitted in response to the Additional Development Request (ADR). As a result, medical necessity for these services could not be determined.

It looks very similar to a denial for medical necessity.  Palmetto GBA advises:

To avoid unnecessary denials for this reason, the provider should ensure that adequate documentation is submitted to substantiate the medical necessity for all the services billed when responding to an ADR. The provider may submit discipline visit notes and/or a summary of the services rendered for the billing period. If a summary is submitted, it should include the following: (1) the information for the dates of service billed, (2) documentation of the services that “were rendered” by each discipline billed, (3) documentation of the patient’s condition, and (4) documentation of the patient’s progress/response to the treatments/services rendered.

This information appears to be outdated as visit notes are specified in the list of documentation required for ADRs. Our advice is to:

  1. Ensure that the recert and therapy evaluation are included if they were performed prior to the starting date of the episode.
  2. Include lab and other diagnostic tests that substantiate a diagnosis even if is not included in the episode.

5A301 Info Provided Does Not Support the M/N for Therapy Services

The same information that applied to the partial denial for therapy services also applies here so we won’t be redundant and repeat it here.

We hope you don’t need help with appealing denials but we are here for you if you do and to answer any questions about denials you might have received.  We would also appreciate any input if you have anything to add, especially about the denial for OASIS and the denial for Visits/Supplies/DME Billed Not Documented/Not Documented As Used.  Email us at TheCoders@hhcoding.com.

by Julianne Haydel

Here We Go Again


A notification of the intent to re-implement the Pre-Claim Review process is being published today in the Federal Register.  The purpose, as stated in the notice, is to develop and improve methods to investigate and prosecute fraud in the home healthcare services.  In other words, Medicare wants you to send them evidence before you are even suspected of a crime. At its onset, agencies in Illinois, Ohio, Florida, North Carolina and Texas with the option to expand.

If there was even a chance that this burdensome, intrusive and expensive process would serve its stated process, my objections might not be so strong (but maybe they would).  Assuming that this process involves collecting the same information as the 2016/2017 demonstration, it is not likely identify or help in the prosecution of fraud. For those of you unfamiliar with the process, agencies had to gather and submit eligibility information for patients and submit it prior to billing the final claim.  (Palmetto GBA’s Guide to PCR submission) What’s even more amazing is that the United States Congress agrees with me.   

Here’s what they wrote in the Final Rule for the 2015 PPS update:

Each year, the CMS’ Office of Financial Management (OFM), under the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program, calculates the Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) improper payment rate. For the FY 2013 report period (reflecting claims processed between July 2011 and June 2012), the national Medicare FFS improper payment rate was calculated to be 10.1 percent.  For that same report period, the improper payment rate for home health services was 17.3 percent, representing a projected improper payment amount of approximately $3 billion.  The improper payments identified by the CERT program represent instances in which a health care provider fails to comply with the Medicare coverage and billing requirements and are not necessarily a result of fraudulent activity.

Worse than being ineffective, the proposed PCR project does not state goals of prevention of fraud, improvement of patient outcomes, or identification of opportunities for innovative approaches to home healthcare.   The process focuses on Face-to-Face information, documentation of homebound status, signatures and dates, and care plans. Nothing written here is meant to dismiss the importance of these statutory requirements but agencies who are fraudulently bent are coached by the CMS in how to get paid whether or not visits are being made or if the ordered care is given. Numerous checklists and examples could serve as a Fraud 101 primer.    It befuddles me that an undated signature may result in a denial or delay in payment but Medicare doesn’t understand that a fraudulent agency may document homebound status perfectly even when the details are contrary to reality.

But you do have a choice.  You can opt out of the PCR process.  It’s a condescending choice like when a toddler is told he can eat his vegetables or be sent to bed early with no dessert. Most kids will hold their nose and get the Broccoli down.  

Similarly, Medicare is giving agencies a choice to participate in PCR or suffer a 25 percent reduction in payment IF they are paid after a mandatory request for additional records (ADR).  So agencies will hold their nose and participate in PCR.

Agencies can also opt for a post payment review. In this scenario, you would submit information after being paid which means any errors found occurred prior to billing.  Undated signature? Denied. Then you will have an overpayment which will be recouped. There are few things worse than having money you already earned taken back. But agencies have a choice.

Agencies will be removed from PCR after they reach an unannounced target goal. If the purpose of PCR is accurately stated, how could the goal be less than 100 percent?  If a 90 percent target is set, that means that 10 percent of claims meet the categories of fraud, abuse or waste.  

What has never happened to the best of my knowledge is anyone being notified by the person reviewing a patient in the pre-claim review process of errors that might cost Medicare money. Just once I would like to see advice to an agency to include therapy because even though it was received in a prior admission, it’s worth another shot because the patient is having pain difficult to manage without opiates increasing the risk of falls and subsequent injury.  

Luckily, you don’t have to sit back and wait for the curtain to fall.  You have been invited to comment on the PCR process. Before you do, take a look at the document which was to have been included in today’s Federal Register.  As of now, it does not appear to be there.

Note that there are multiple ways to submit your comments.  Use them all. Tell your co-workers, bosses, employees and mother to read the memo and draw their own conclusions.  There is an ethical dilemma if you tell them how to feel about a political matter but providing a stamp won’t draw the attention of anyone.

Also note the title of the gentleman who signed the memo; Director, Paperwork Reduction Staff.  I couldn’t make that up if I tried.

The Coders will prepare comments for submission and share them with you. Please feel free to share your comments for or against the reimplementation of the Pre-Claims Review Demonstration.  And remember, you have options.

 

by Julianne Haydel

Three Little Questions


Because the OASIS C database has become easier for you, Medicare has taken measures to ensure that 2017 offers some challenges in the way of OASIS C2.  In turn, we have taken measure to ensure that you understand at the very minimum the three new questions.  They come complete with their own conundrums, confusion and lots of reformatting and subtle shifts in definition.  It’s not as simple as it seems but it certainly isn’t out of your range of capabilities.

New Questions

Written by someone who is comforted by redundancy, MO1028 assesses (again) whether a patient has diabetes or peripheral vascular disease.

(M1028) Active Diagnoses– Comorbidities and Co-existing Conditions—Check all that apply

See the OASIS Guidance Manual or click here for a list of relevant ICD-10 codes.

  • Peripheral Vascular Disease (PVD) or Peripheral Arterial Disease (PAD)
  • Diabetes Mellitus (DM)

Additional guidance is not much different from coding conventions.  The diagnoses must be documented in the medical records produced by the physician or NP.

Having the condition is not enough to win a checked box.  The C2 manual states that the diagnosis must be active and the manual infers that ‘active’ means that there are orders written or monitoring of the disease process ongoing.

So, that’s two criteria –

  1. Does the patient have the condition and
  2. Is anyone watching it or writing orders for it.

Worth noting, if only for a laugh, the OASIS Guidance manual for the C2 dataset provides the following rationale for this question.  We are not kidding.

Disease processes can have a significant adverse effect on an individual’s health status and quality of life.

Section GG

Another new question is (GG0170C) Mobility.  The question occupies an entire page in the manual and if you are like me, it may take you a while to understand what they are truly asking.  Look the column in the body of the table to the very most right where it says something about the patient moving from a completely supine position to sitting on the side of the bed, feet flat on the floor with no backrest.   Everything else on the page refers to that single activity.

The answer reflecting the greatest impairment is 01 and a patient who can complete the tasks independently gets a 06 score.  Note that this is a new opportunity to make a careless error as the level of severity for every other question is reversed with 00 being the least impaired and the last possible response being the worst level of severity.

But there’s more.  The dataset asks for a goal.  If your patient is able to do this task at admission, it is not a problem.  Your initial response and your goal will be the same.  However, if some improvement is expected by the grace of your carefully crafted careplan, there will be a second response describing your patient’s expected ability upon discharge.  Take your best shot and don’t fret about not being able to predict the future.  It is true that all kinds of things can happen between admit/resumption of care and discharge but it is not reasonable to downgrade your goal in the event of a zombie attack.  On the other hand, remember that you are not so good that you can take a person who is totally dependent following a cerebral vascular accident and have them independent at discharge.

Getting Personal

Medicare wants to know the patient’s height and weight in M1060.

(M1060) Height and Weight—While measuring, if the number is X.1 – X.4 round down; X.5 or greater round up.

The Coders assume that you know how to round off numbers but Medicare does not and includes explicit instructions within the question.

Guidance for this question includes a helpful tip to measure your patient’s height and weight in accordance with the agency’s policies and procedures, which should reflect current standards of practice.  So, how many of you have a policy addressing how to measure the height and weight of a patient?

Assuming that such a policy exists in your agency, is it based upon sound clinical practice standards?  On your behalf, we have scoured the internet for practice standards for measuring height and weight and like the CDC Antropometry Procedures Manual.  Sadly, the manual refers to the Integrated Survey Information System anthropometry computer application (ISIS).   Do not be alarmed when you see this.

Also, when determining how height will be measured, plan on buying a stadiometer.  This is the apparatus seen in Physician offices that measures height.  Most of the affordable ones are wall mounted and we suggest that wall mounting is not recommended in your patient’s home environment.  Also, note that anything with brightly colored giraffes and ruler-like markings cheering on big boys and girls is not likely to be received well by adult patients or meet the practice standards. Call your medical supply company and plan to spend about $150.00 per portable stadiometer.

The Dash

There’s more – so much more but you have patients to see and notes to write.  We are going to leave you with information about The Dash.  This is not a simple dash as found in other places like a date or a social security number.  According to Medicare,

a dash (–) value indicates that no information is available, and/or an item could not be assessed. This most often occurs when the patient is unexpectedly transferred, discharged or dies before assessment of the item could be completed. CMS expects dash use to be a rare occurrence.

This definition is consistent throughout the manual.  When a dash value is an available option for questions, OASIS guidance generally indicates if the dash is a valid response.

For your convenience, we have uploaded some of these documents.  Hopefully, you will read them and then fill us in.  As always, we welcome your questions.  Maybe we’ll even answer a couple.

by Julianne Haydel

THE Hospice Quiz


If you own or work at a hospice, there has never been a better time to make sure that you understand the rules and regulations just like Medicare intended.  The quiz below is a very basic quiz designed for you and your staff or co-workers to take to ensure that you are not denied payment or worse,  step on a regulatory landmine.