Audits: Watch The Clock For Medicare Facility Observation Patients
Don’t include time a patient spends waiting for transportation after discharge.
After the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) implemented the controversial “Two-Midnight Rule,” the RACs have intensified scrutiny of hospital admissions. They will assume hospital admissions are reasonable and necessary for patients who stay in a hospital through two midnights. However, shorter stays are expected to be coded as outpatient observation.
Make Sure You Get Credit for Any Observation Time Prior To Admission
The two-midnight rule requires that patients admitted to the hospital are expected to be hospitalized over two midnights. When this...
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