General Surgery Coding Alert - 2016 Issue 13
Face-To-Face: MACs Deny Staggering 92 Percent of Claims Under F2F Audits
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Article Overview
This article covers Medicare’s probe-and-educate review activity for home health face-to-face physician encounter documentation. It summarizes denial rates reported by several Medicare Administrative Contractors, outlines the main categories driving denials, and places the results in the context of CMS guidance on home health eligibility documentation. The piece is relevant to physicians, home health agencies, and coders or compliance staff following Medicare home health audit activity.
Why This Topic Matters
It helps healthcare organizations understand where Medicare reviewers are focusing in home health documentation audits and why claims are being denied, without requiring the reader to interpret the full premium article.
Article Sections
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Probe & Educate audit results reported by Medicare Administrative Contractors
This section summarizes reported review activity and denial patterns across multiple Medicare Administrative Contractors. It presents the broader audit context and the comparative results discussed in the article.
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Breakdown of denial reasons
This section outlines the major categories contributing to claim denials in the audit results. It also groups the reported documentation-related issue types discussed in the article.
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CMS face-to-face documentation guidance and 2015 requirements
This section reviews CMS guidance about the face-to-face documentation changes and the home health eligibility framework. It discusses the documentation sources referenced by CMS and the compliance focus of the review initiative.
What You Will Learn
- The general purpose of Medicare probe-and-educate reviews in the home health setting
- What types of documentation issues were associated with denials in the reported audits
- How CMS framed the face-to-face documentation requirements for home health eligibility
- Which organizations were involved in the review activity and guidance discussed in the article
Who Should Read This
- Home health agencies
- Physicians certifying home health services
- Medical coders
- Compliance staff
- Revenue cycle professionals
- Medicare billing staff
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