Where There Is A Rule, There Are Exceptions

Article Overview

This article summarizes Medicare guidance on exceptions to signature rules and how reviewers should handle missing, illegible, or otherwise problematic signatures when specific authorities apply. It is relevant to coders, billing staff, compliance teams, and auditors who work with Medicare documentation standards, hospice-related certifications, and diagnostic testing orders. The article also references how different CMS and Medicare policy sources interact when determining which signature requirements control.