In a report released on Thursday, April 10, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) found that, thus far, there has been limited compliance with the face-to-face documentation requirement for home health providers. As a result, the OIG determined that Medicare paid $2 billion to home health providers that should not have been paid. In an effort to increase compliance with the face-to-face requirement, the OIG has outlined specific recommendations that CMS could implement which would impact home health providers. The OIG’s findings and recommendations should serve as an alert to home health providers to carefully review their compliance with face-to-face encounter documentation requirements.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“ACA”) included language that established the face-to-face encounter requirement. Although initially scheduled to be effective January 1, 2011, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) delayed implementation until April 1, 2011.
The face-to-face encounter documentation requirement provides that for initial certification periods only, a home health agency must obtain documentation from the certifying physician that the physician had a face-to-face encounter with the patient. The face-to-face documentation must be signed and dated by the physician. It must include the date the encounter occurred, and include a brief narrative that describes why the patient is homebound and why the skilled services are medically necessary to treat the patient’s illness or injury. A home health agency’s reimbursement for the home health services for an initial certification period is dependent upon the certifying physician’s proper documentation of the face-to-face encounter.
The study conducted by the OIG examined Part A home health claims from January 1, 2011 through December 31, 2012 in an effort to determine the extent to which certifying physicians documented face-to-face encounters with beneficiaries. Based on the study, the OIG concluded that compliance with the face-to-face requirement has been limited and inconsistent. Specifically, the OIG concluded that mandated documentation did not meet Medicare requirements for 32% of home health claims that required face-to-face encounters which, according to the OIG, resulted in $2 billion in payments that should not have been made. The OIG further noted that face-to-face documentation was missing in 10% of claims, which totaled $605 million in payments that should not have been made. Lastly, the OIG found that of the face-to-face documents that were submitted, 25% of the documents were missing one of the required elements, usually the signature of the certifying physician.
The OIG also noted that physicians inconsistently completed the narrative content portion of the face-to-face documentation and that CMS oversight over the face-to-face documentation requirement was minimal because CMS does not have a specific program to oversee compliance with the requirement.
In an effort to increase compliance with the face-to-face documentation requirement, the OIG recommended the following policies be implemented:
- CMS should consider requiring the use of a standardized form that includes all elements required for face-to-face documentation to serve as a default. The OIG notes that this should not be an onerous mandate.
- CMS should develop a strategy that encompasses formal training and outreach to providers about the importance of compliance with face-to-face documentation.
- Lastly, the OIG recommends that CMS work with the payment contractors to develop new review procedures to ensure compliance with the requirement of face-to-face documentation. The OIG notes that this is especially important given CMS’s plans to implement the face-to-face requirement for durable medical equipment.
The OIG’s report and recommendations reaffirm our experience that Medicare contractors are focusing more intently on home health agencies’ compliance with the face-to-face encounter documentation requirements. Although compliance is dependent upon the certifying physician’s documentation, it is vital that home health agencies review records for initial certification periods for face-to-face encounter documentation that meets the requirements. Specifically, home health agencies should review the narrative portion of the face-to-face encounter documentation to confirm that it sufficiently describes the beneficiary’s homebound status and the reasons supporting the medical necessity of the skilled services. The brief narrative section of the face-to-face encounter documentation is the most subjective component to the documentation requirement and, therefore, many contractors deny payment for entire episodes of care based on the fact that the brief narratives are insufficient. In order to try to prevent these initial denials and/or have success challenging the denials during the Medicare appeals process, it is very important that the face-to-face encounter’s brief narrative meets the stated objectives.
Wachler & Associates will continue to monitor any further developments regarding the face-to-face documentation requirement. If you have any compliance questions pertaining to the face-to-face encounter or other home health audit risk areas, or need assistance in defending claim denials during any stage of the Medicare appeals process, please contact an experienced health care attorney at Wachler & Associates via phone at 248-544-0888 or via email at wapc@wachler.com.