OASIS-Central

Q: We have a bedfast, male patient who can place and remove the urinal, but cannot place/remove the bedpan. In this situation, how would we answer OASIS-C data element M1840 (Toilet Transferring)?

Q: We have a bedfast, male patient who can place and remove the urinal, but cannot place/remove the bedpan. In this situation, how would we answer OASIS-C data element M1840 (Toilet Transferring)? A: OASIS-C data element M1840 is intended to identify the patient’s ability to get to and from and transfer on and off the [...]

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Know Your Recovery Audit Contractor Contact Information

Homecare providers are under increased scrutiny. One of the sources of that scrutiny: Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs). Providers should monitor their RAC’s website for approved issues and up-to-date information. Knowing your RAC and how to contact them is extremely important. RACs, along with their region and contact information, include: Region A: Diversified Collection Services Website: [...]

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Customize Care to Meet the Patient’s Needs

Everyday, clinicians confront tough questions, those that require knowledge of certification, payment, and documentation requirements. Here’s an example. With the push toward best practices, do you think it’s a good idea to establish visit patterns for the initial certification period? Our agency is considering a pattern with minimum visits of three a week for the [...]

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Would a 24-hour stay for observation after a surgical procedure be considered response 3, a short-stay acute hospital, for M1000?

Q: Would a 24-hour stay for observation after a surgical procedure be considered response 3, a short-stay acute hospital, for M1000? A: If the patient was in an observation unit and not admitted to the hospital, the answer to M1000, inpatient discharge facilities, would be NA, patient was not discharged from an inpatient facility. There [...]

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Is CMS’ Mistake Coming Back to Haunt Homecare Providers?

You know that feeling. You just hit “send” on an e-mail and then realized it’s going to the wrong person. You try to recall it but once it’s out in cyberspace, it’s there forever. In February 2009, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released some erroneous guidance. It posted a correction on its [...]

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Physician Verification of Diagnoses Is Important

Diagnoses play an important role in supporting reasonable and necessary services. The diagnoses must correlate with the services the agency provides. The primary support for the patient’s plan of care comes from the principal diagnosis. The pertinent diagnoses listed first can also support the plan. Other diagnoses identify relevant comorbidities. Any of the six reported [...]

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