Home Health & Hospice Week

Don't dupe yourself into providing unnecessary non-billable therapy visits. Reader Question: The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says in episodes with multiple therapy disciplines, therapists can conduct their reevaluation visits "close to" the 13th and 19th visit. What counts as "close to"? Answer: Therapists in multiple-discipline cases must perform the reassessment visits "close to but no later than the 13th and 19th therapy visit," CMS says in the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual update issued April 15. Manual guidance for counting therapy visits in multi-discipline episodes grants much-needed flexibility to the reassessment visit scheduling process, but it's also sowing confusion amongst home health agencies, reports therapist and consultant Cindy Krafft with Fazzi Associates. Debunk This Myth Common pitfall: Without concrete guidelines of what "close to" includes, many HHAs are making up their own visit ranges, Krafft has found. Often they mirror the 11-to-13 and 17-to-19 ranges that are the requirement [...]