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There's always more work to do than people to do it. Exploring
new areas of CHAMP is not exactly "high priority" when claims
need to be sent and clients cared for!
Nevertheless, take time this month to examine ways to increase
reimbursement, reduce reimbursement time, and improve quality
of care with a feature already in CHAMP. Peruse tips from Bob
on the side.
Invest a few minutes now; save money later.
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SCIC or not to SCIC... The Bottom Dollar |
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Before you bill another significant change in condition
(SCIC), determine if you'll lose $$ needlessly.
Myth 1: A deterioration in condition resulting
in a higher HHRG will increase reimbursement. Fact: This
could decrease reimbursement late in the episode due to
pro-rationing. The CMS
Home Health Agency Manual states "...if the HIPPS code
weight increased but the pro-ration of days in the SCIC
adjustment would result in a financial disadvantage to
the HHA, the SCIC is not requied to be reported" (Section
467.29). Have staff step through this decision
flowchart before issuing a SCIC.
Myth 2: Any improvement in patient condition warrants
a SCIC. Fact: "The SCIC improvement does not apply
to patient improvement that reflects the goal of patient
improvement in the plan of care. Where the SCIC reflects
a lower HHRG due to unanticipated improvement in
patient condition, the SCIC must be billed." [emphasis
added, CMS
FAQ]
Myth 3: Determining when not to file a SCIC is
a tedious process. Fact: CHAMP calculates SCICs
on the Medicare Billing Report, putting ** beside SCICs
that would cause you to lose money. That's a clue to examine
the case, and if you choose not to submit the SCIC, check
the "Ignore SCIC" box on the Billing HHRG Codes screen.
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| Pathways
Pave the Way to Improved Care |
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Debated using pathways (standardized care plans)? If
you're looking for a way to reduce charting time while
increasing quality of care, pathways may be your answer.
CHAMP comes pre-installed with MCH, Adult, Child,
and Parenting pathways, built by leaders in the community
health field (home care pathways are under development).
You can also build custom pathways to fit your unique client
needs.
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| HIPAA-compliant
Claims Pay Off |
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CMS announced that as of July 1, Fiscal Intermediaries
will hold Medicare payments for non-HIPAA-compliant
claims an additional 13 days. Are you still billing
Medicare in a legacy format? CHAMP doesn't!
Email
us to request documentation for creating
837s and reading 997s in CHAMP. You can't afford to
wait 13 extra days for reimbursement.
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| Support
Corner: Meet Bob |
Bob Mehltretter (a.k.a. The Funny Guy)
serves as our first line of support. He savors Snoopy comic
strips, flavored coffee, and telling jokes.
Update Your Address Book!
1) Please email support questions to support@
champsoftware.com instead of champ2. This creates a
case in our support/call tracking system.
2) If you reply to our emails (instead of creating new
ones for the same issue) it's easier to resolve your issue
since the emails automatically go into the correct case.
Multiple Diagnoses on 485
If you've applied Release L or higher, there is no benefit
to checking a 485 for the printed or signed flags. By
customer request, we removed that requirement. Multiple
diagnosis codes now work correctly with a valid provider
number and date range.
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