How do you bill for "discharge supplies"?

1. 0 I am particularly concerned with Medicare patients. I am working with the mfr. of Pleurx drainage systems to try & solve the problem of pts. not having enough drainage bottles after discharge to get by until they get home delivery. My question is: if you discharge a patient with, say, 5 bottles, can the hospital bill Medicare Part B & get paid for them outside of the DRG payment?

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2. 3 Comments

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3. 
   #1 1

   Nov 28, '08 by edgwow

   I do not believe that you can bill that way. You need to send them home with the supply they need until they get their supplies delivered. There is a company in Ohio called EdgePark Medical supply, the turn around time is 5 days to delevery to home, that specializes in pleurex cathters, they have a whole dept. that does the authorizations for them .
4. 
   #2 1

   Nov 29, '08 by Mijourney

   I agree. You cannot separately bill the patient's Medicare for home supplies. That's why I believe that discharge planning should take place at admission and continue through actual discharge from the hospital. It helps the problems seen with discharge back into the home environment.
5. 
   #3 0

   Dec 1, '08 by dria

   we've had good luck with edge park overnighting supplies in a pinch. i'm not sure if it's because we are an insurer (and maybe have better reimbursement rates?) but it might be worth looking into. 5 days sure is a long time...

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