Clarification of Patient Discharge Status Codes and Hospital Transfer Policies
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) conducted several reviews identifying Medicare overpayments to hospitals that did not comply with the post-acute care transfer policy. Hospitals transferred inpatients to certain post-acute care settings but coded the patient discharge status as a discharge to home. To assure proper payment under the Medicare Severity-Diagnosis Related Group (MS-DRG) payment system, hospitals must be sure to code the discharge/transfer status of patients accurately to reflect the level of post-discharge care to be received by the patient.
Issued by: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Issue Date: March 03, 2014
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