Eli's Hospice Insider

Published on Tue Jan 15, 2013 PDF

If paper records make up any part of your charting system, you’d better pay attention to penmanship. So warns a newly revised MLN Matters article from CMS. "When determining the medical necessity of an item or service billed, Medicare’s review contractors must rely on the medical documentation submitted by the provider in support of a given claim," CMS says in MLN Matters article SE1237. "Therefore, legibility of clinical notes and other supporting documentation is critical to avoid Medicare FFS claim payment denials."

Your clinicians should ensure that their documentation is legible -- not only by staff members familiar with it -- but also by anyone who might be reading the notes. The article is at www.cms.gov/Outreach-and-Education/Medicare-Learning-Network-MLN/MLNMattersArticles/Downloads/SE1237.pdf.