1 da 1; what does it mean?

HmarieD · Jul 20, 2009

That would mean you are going to see the patient 1 time a day for one day. FYI, you cannot bill a one-time visit on a Medicare pt unless there were further visits planned and it didn't pan out due to hospitalization or some other unforeseen circumstance. If your pt does not have Medicare this may not be an issue.

A frequency should encompass 9 weeks. You are correct that you should consider each week Sun - Sat as one week. So if you admit a pt on Friday, the most you could see that pt is 2 x the first week. Consider what day of the week your certification period will end when looking at your freq for the 9th week.

Sana2007 · Jul 20, 2009

That would mean you are going to see the patient 1 time a day for one day. FYI, you cannot bill a one-time visit on a Medicare pt unless there were further visits planned and it didn't pan out due to hospitalization or some other unforeseen circumstance. If your pt does not have Medicare this may not be an issue.
A frequency should encompass 9 weeks. You are correct that you should consider each week Sun - Sat as one week. So if you admit a pt on Friday, the most you could see that pt is 2 x the first week. Consider what day of the week your certification period will end when looking at your freq for the 9th week.

Thank you, HmarieD fro your response. So what do you suggest writing for frequency if I admit a patient on Friday; Should I write 1 da 2 for first week and then the appropriate frequency for the rest of the 9 weeks or 8 weeks? I am not sure if that first week should be counted as week 1 or not? If I count it as first week, then there are too many days left over in the certification period but they fall in the 10th week, so I can not schedule any visits for that week?

Once again thanks for your help.

HmarieD · Jul 20, 2009

You must count the first week. Your frequency will depend on your patient's needs. I do see what you mean about the 10 weeks depending on how your weekdays fall...

If it were me, I would write a frequency for the first 9 weeks. If I needed to make a visit in the couple of days that will constitute the last "week" I would probably just write an order for an extra visit that day (though you'll have to be on top of things to catch it). If you are using a software scheduling program, you may not have any alternative, most are set for the 9 week time frame.

If you want to see the pt twice in that first week, on Friday & Sat, I would write it "2wk1" (2 times a week for 1 week). I guess that's kind of splitting hairs, it's just what I'm accustomed to. Good luck! Believe me, you are not the first HH nurse to have trouble understanding frequencies.