CLINICAL SUMMARY This case study involves a 54-year-old female patient with a past medical history of type I diabetes, diabetic gastroparesis, nephrolithiasis, hypothyroidism, hypertension and traumatic brain injury. She arrived in the ER out of concern for diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). The patient was hospitalized for DKA one month before this admission. She had been sick […]
CLINICAL SUMMARY: Bilateral Pneumonia A 23-year-old nonverbal female patient arrived in the emergency department with her parents who said she had a fever and heavy breathing since the morning. The patient’s medical history included Lennox-Gastaut Syndrome, severe mental retardation, seizure disorder, recurrent aspirations, recurrent pneumonia and vagal nerve stimulator. Her parents said she had been
For a traditional Medicare patient admitted for observation, it is not uncommon to remain in the hospital longer than two midnights due to non-medical reasons including waiting for a transfer to another facility or family situations. In these cases, the reason the patient remains hospitalized is the lack of a safe discharge plan. Should such
Chest pain is one of the most common ER diagnoses. For those patients who require hospital admission, getting the admission status correct and paid by the insurance company can be tricky. One such case involved a patient who arrived in the ER with chest pain presumed due to unstable angina (TIMI 3). The patient was
Case Study: Chest Pain, Non-cardiac Can be Difficult to Get Admission Status Correct Read More »
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services’ decision to not eliminate the inpatient only list (IPO) was due to the numerous comments and feedback it received from the medical community, the COVID-19 public health emergency and the fact that the change “transpired quickly,” according to the final rule (CMS-1753FC) issued in December.1 Heading into 2022,
Though it took time and effort, an administrative law judge ruled in favor of a client hospital and overturned a Medicare claim denial for a total knee replacement surgery. The hospital can now fully recover the cost of that surgery, with interest. The case dates back to 2015 when a traditional Medicare patient underwent a
Appealing Denials through the Medicare Claims Appeals Process Works Read More »
We all know in clinical medicine that documentation is everything. Hence the old saying “If it’s not documented, then it didn’t happen.” This is particularly true outside of the clinical realm in the insurance world. Level of care is based on the clinical condition of the patient, how they present and how that meshes with
Good Documentation can Reduce Hospital Admission Denials Read More »
For an update on this issue, please read: CMS reverses course in inpatient only list The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has begun to dismantle its inpatient only list, which has directed the level of care for more than 1700 procedures for physicians and hospitals since 2000. CMS said the move gives physicians
Eliminating the CMS IPO List will Continue to Complicate Hospital Stays Read More »
Utilization management programs are often in-house services provided by hospital staff. However, more and more hospitals are outsourcing utilization review management as the pressure mounts to contain costs, especially following the COVID-19 pandemic, and improve care. Hospitals benefit from outsourcing utilization review in several ways, as it can: Free up in-house physician advisors and chief
There is one relatively easy way hospitals can reduce claims denials: better clinical documentation. Insurance companies require documentation, and it is often the leading factor in level of care and admission denials. The importance of providing complete documentation never goes away. Treating physicians and utilization review managers must ensure that every admission includes: All the