MDS Alert

Medicare Compliance:

Get The Dates And Signatures Straight

Follow these 3 tips.

When obtaining physician certs/recerts, make sure:
 
1. The physician dates the forms or notation in the chart certifying/recertifying care. "The physician should date the certs/recerts based on the date he/she signs it," advises Lee Heinbaugh, comptroller for PMGO Inc. in Cleveland, OH. If the certs/recerts are not dated, many FIs will not consider them to be valid, cautions Jan Zacny, RN, a consultant with BKD Inc. in Springfield, MO.

2. Don't sign the physician cert form for the physician, instructs Betsy Anderson, a consultant with FR&R Healthcare Consulting in Deerfield, IL.

3. Never backdate the form. "That would be considered fraudulent," cautions Cindy MacQuarrie, MN, RN, also with BKD Inc.

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