Hi All,
I got the following message from NAHC regarding proposed CMS changes:
NAHC is reporting that in the CMS Open Door Forum held on May 8, CMS indicated thatin the future they will be returning claims to Hospice providers for certain diagnosis codes. It appears CMS is explicitly stating that it does not consider debility, failure to thrive, dementia and other similar diagnosisc odes to be appropriate as a principal diagnosis code for hospice claims. NAHC is recommending that that all hospices review each case where these diagnosis codes are listed as the principle diagnosis. Agencies should also be reporting all related co-morbidity diagnosis codes on their claims."
Has anyone heard anything further? This is concerning since there are patients who truly only qualify under one of these 3 diagnoses.