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Observation Status question

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13preyabhi

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Lake Hiawatha, NJ
Hi I got a new project to review Hospital observation coding. According to Medicare, Patient can be in observation status for no more than 48 hours. However, My manager told me that patient can be in an observation status for seven days!!
Does anyone know how long patient can be in an observation status?


Thank You,

Preya Parekh, COC
 
As far as I am aware there is no law that defines how long a patient can stay in observation.

Medicare views any observation after 48 hours as highly suspect. Either the patient should have been discharged or the patient should have been admitted to inpatient. Hospitals generally follow the Medicare guideline of 48 hours but they may allow some to extend further.
 
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