Hospital Coding: Know What to Do When Observation Stretches the Limits
Keep careful documentation of longer stays.
While most patients will be either discharged or admitted within two days, at times the decision takes longer. When a physician keeps a patient in observation more than two days, look to the subsequent observation codes.
According to Medicare, the decision whether to discharge a patient from the hospital or admit the patient as an inpatient can be made in less than 48 hours, usually in less than 24 hours, says Todd Thomas, CPC, CCS-P, president of ERcoder, Inc. in Edmond, Ok.
Rarely does an observation span more than 48 hours. When, however...
To read the full article, sign in and subscribe to tci Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement.
Keep pace with evolving Medicare regulations — and onboard your team — with timely analysis of critical updates interpreted in an easy-to-follow, easy-to-apply format. Your subscription to TCI's Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement Alert will equip you to navigate code and guideline changes, CCI edits, and revisions to modifiers, payer policies, the fee schedule, OIG target areas, and more.
Current newsletters added each month
Fully searchable archives - over 4200 articles
ALL years/issues back to 2003 organized by year and issue
Codes mentioned in articles are linked to Code Information pages
Code Information pages link back to related articles
Access to this feature is available in the following products: