OASIS-Central

Q:  A patient is recertified two days before the end of the certification period. One day before the end of the certification period the patient is admitted to acute care for three days. When discharged from acute care, should we do a resumption of care or a start of care?

A: You didn’t mention when the patient was discharged from the acute care facility. The assumption is that the patient is discharged from the acute care facility after the first day of the new certification period. If services are resumed after the first day of the new certification period, the agency should discharge the previous episode and readmit the patient with a new start of care date. This will result in a new HIPPS code that will best represent the patient’s home care needs.