Billing Medicare Part A for Ancillary Therapy Services - a change in what units represent

Focusing on Medicare’s coverage and payment for ancillary therapy services,Proper Therapy Unit Codes Transmittal 2239 (CMS Manual, Pub 100-04 Medicare Claims Processing, issued June 14, 2011, Billing SNF PPS Services, 30.4 - Coding PPS Bills for Ancillary Services) states, effective August 1, 2011, “For therapy services, that is revenue codes 042x, 043x, and 044x, units represent the number of calendar days of therapy provided.  For example, if the beneficiary received physical therapy, occupational therapy and speech-language pathology on May 1, that would be considered one calendar day and would be billed as one unit.” (Italics added.)

In other words, for each day a Medicare patient receives a therapy service, providers must record that as one unit. In the past, the number of units reported on a claim reflected the number of treatments provided. That is no longer the case. The new policy stipulates that units of therapy should tie to the number of days the patient received therapy services, NOT the number of treatments. For codes 042x, 043x, and 044x, providers are to record the total number of days a resident received therapy treatments as one unit for each day. Providers can look at this as an “on/off switch,” “yes or no” answer. Did the resident receive PT today? If, “yes,” then record 1 unit. If a resident had 16 days of physical therapy treatments, for example, the 042x revenue code should indicate 16 units. The aggregate of the total units/days of therapy services received would be recorded on the claim. 

The transmittal further stipulates that “SNFs are required to report the actual charge for each line item, in Total Charges.” The total should reflect the charges for actual treatments received as determined by your facility’s/company’s charge master and recorded in the Total Charges field.

Questions

If you are using a clinical software application for documenting therapy services, does it automatically convert days of service to units to be recorded in aggregate on the claim while recording the charges based on the quantity of treatments?

What changes were necessary for you to comply with this regulatory change?

With the hiring of Ms. Becky Bos and Ms. Kimberly Kelly, PCT offers enhanced Revenue Management Consulting Services to long term care providers. Cuts in Medicare and Medicaid services have forced providers to effectively maximize and capture the revenue they are able generate. Becky and Kimberly have extensive experience and expertise in working with large multi-facility corporations and small regional providers to identify and collect the cash owed. This is the first in a series of articles in which Becky and Kimberly share their collective wisdom regarding sound billing and collection practices providers can employ.