In order for a home health agency to deliver physician-ordered home health services, the agency must prepare a Plan of Care (POC) for the patient that conveys the physician’s orders for the care. The POC must be signed by the clinician, thereby approving the plan for the episode of care. In addition, during the time the patient is receiving home health care, there may be occasions for the clinician to oversee the care provided, communicate with the agency, respond to changes in the patient’s condition, and/or make therapeutic changes to the care regimen.
Physicians can bill and be paid for signing the initial or re-certification POC. If they provide oversight of the home care services on a monthly basis, and document at least 30 minutes of coordination activities, they can also be paid for Care Plan Oversight (CPO).
Patients receive home health services in 60-day episodes of care as medically necessary. There is no limit to the number of episodes of care a patient have as long as Medicare guidelines are met. There is also no limit to CPO services as long as they are reasonable and medically necessary, well documented, and correspond to the time the patient has a POC.
Feel free to request our free bulletin on billing this service.