HCPro.com: Billing Alert for Long-Term Care

It's essential to know how to correctly submit your Medicare claims in order to get the reimbursement your facility deserves. Billing Alert for Long-Term Care provides the crucial tips and strategies that billers need for success.

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November 2008 (Volume 10, Issue 11)	view entire issue

Don’t let your billing office bypass resident resource payments
State Medicaid programs require Medicaid beneficiaries to contribute a resident resource payment—also called a resident contribution or patient-paid amount—toward the cost of their long-term care services.

Rein in the facility census
Overlapping dates of service due to admissions, discharges, and leaves of absence not being reported correctly on the census are common problems with Medicare Part A skilled nursing facility (SNF) claims, says Cindy Dunne, president of ECS Billing & Consulting, Inc., in Dublin, OH.

Coding patient status on the UB-04
The patient status code, which is entered at form locator (FL) 17 on the UB-04, indicates the resident’s status as of the through date of the billing period. Accurate coding of patient status is a core component of accurate Medicare claims.

BALTC Q&A
Q. At my skilled nursing facility (SNF), we don’t bill Medicare Part B for wound care supplies under the surgical dressing benefit. Can we bill the resident instead for these supplies?

Don’t overlook condition codes
A recent CMS transmittal shines the spotlight on an often-overlooked UB-04 coding element: the condition code (CC). Many billers don’t realize the purpose ofusing CCs at form locators (FL) 18–28 on Part A claims, says Missy Tieken, director of billing services at Consolidated Billing Services, Inc., in Spokane, WA.

Other recently-published articles from Billing Alert for Long-Term Care:

Hospice services: Know when and how your facility should bill

Benefits exhaust and no-pay bills

BALTC Q&A

Medicare Part D: SNFs, LTCPs, and dual-eligible residents

Recovery audit contractors: Ready or not, here they come

Take the pain out of immunizations with roster billing

Billing for ambulance services: Combat common problems and reduce costs for your facility

BALTC Q&A

Rein in the facility census

Coding patient status on the UB-04

BALTC Q&A

Don’t overlook condition codes

Don’t let your billing office bypass resident resource payments

How FIs view changes in therapy services during a payment period

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