Hospital Discharge date-of-service

[jgonsalves@prima-care.com]

A provider does a discharge summary on one day and the patient is not really discharged until the following day, which DOS do we use for the discharge? If we use the DOS for the real discharge day but the discharge summary has the day before’s date on it, do we need an addendum in order to bill this scenario? Also, if a different provider see’s the patient after the discharge on the first day is done, can that provider bill a subsequent visit on the date that the patient is actually discharged?

 

[SarahEFox]

You would bill the DOS that the actual visit took place. There could be a number of reasons that the provider's d/c date and the facility's d/c date do not match. It happens often. Say the provider d/c the patient and it took until the next morning for case management to get things in order, or if the patient was going to a SNF and a bed was not ready, etc., then you would use the date the provider saw the patient. If the provider comes back in the morning and sees the patient, he/she would have to have a medically necessary reason to charge. Then you would use a subsequent visit code.

 

[tamzangel@gmail.com]

Dc dos

I often come across providers who do a DC note for several days in advance? today's DOS is 10/25/18 and the notes states patient will be dc'd 10/29/18? several rounding's happen between the 25th and 29th? what happens then?