Gemini18
Expert
Has anyone seen this -- we were just informed of this from our medical director. Effective July 1, 2009 the new rules for observation are:
“Observation is an outpatient service that must be ordered by a physician. CMS asserts that the term “admit to” be used to denote an inpatient admission and that the term “status” refers to an inpatient or an outpatient. Therefore, a physicians order for observation services SHOULD NOT include the terms “admit to” or status”. Preprinted orders should be modified to remove terminology that refers to observation services in terms of “admission” or “status”. Examples of appropriate order terminology include “observation services”, “provide observation services”, or “place in observation”. Standing orders for observation remain impermissible.
“Observation is an outpatient service that must be ordered by a physician. CMS asserts that the term “admit to” be used to denote an inpatient admission and that the term “status” refers to an inpatient or an outpatient. Therefore, a physicians order for observation services SHOULD NOT include the terms “admit to” or status”. Preprinted orders should be modified to remove terminology that refers to observation services in terms of “admission” or “status”. Examples of appropriate order terminology include “observation services”, “provide observation services”, or “place in observation”. Standing orders for observation remain impermissible.