latishack
New
My nursing home facilities have created COVID-19 step down units for residents who were in the hospital with COVID-19 . These units keep the residents who currently have two negative test results isolated for 14 days. The facilities are wanting to use U07.1 to justify the residents being placed in isolation even thought the residents are now negative. Does this not contradict what the LTC coding guidelines says?
Continued Treatment of Acute Conditions in the LTC Facility
Any acute condition treated at the hospital that continues to require follow up or ongoing monitoring should be coded with an acute diagnosis code as long as the condition persists and requires follow up. In general, the status of the acute condition would be assessed whenever the MDS is updated (i.e., patient status change or at monthly review for billing).
Codes for the acute medical condition treated and resolved in the hospital are assigned and reported by the hospital (i.e., cholecystitis, abdominal aortic aneurysm) but not coded or reported in the LTC facility. The LTC facility reports Z codes to identify the provision of aftercare. It is inaccurate to report an acute code for a resolved condition on the health record or claim because it directly contradicts the Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. It is also non-compliant with HIPAA regulations.
Continued Treatment of Acute Conditions in the LTC Facility
Any acute condition treated at the hospital that continues to require follow up or ongoing monitoring should be coded with an acute diagnosis code as long as the condition persists and requires follow up. In general, the status of the acute condition would be assessed whenever the MDS is updated (i.e., patient status change or at monthly review for billing).
Codes for the acute medical condition treated and resolved in the hospital are assigned and reported by the hospital (i.e., cholecystitis, abdominal aortic aneurysm) but not coded or reported in the LTC facility. The LTC facility reports Z codes to identify the provision of aftercare. It is inaccurate to report an acute code for a resolved condition on the health record or claim because it directly contradicts the Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. It is also non-compliant with HIPAA regulations.