Sometimes you are trying to verify benefits / payer source on a referral and you’re working with a Medicare number that ends in a letter.  Here’s a quick cheat sheet on the meaning associated with that letter: Code Meaning A Primary claimant (wage earner), retired worker B Aged wife, age 62 or over B1 Aged husband, age 62 or over B2 Young wife, with a child in her care B3 Aged wife, age 62 or over, second...

This is a problem that comes up in nursing homes at times.  You have a nursing home resident that goes home in the middle of their 100-day Medicare benefit period.  They get home, have a decline, and need to come back to you.  If they need skilled services within 30 days of the discharge from your facility, you can accept them back under Part A without a new 3-midnight hospital stay. If they’ve stayed out of the skilled nursing...

If you have recently accepted a new facility, one of the first things you need to do is review their discharge policy and the discharge letter/notification they are using - if they are using one at all. Many facilities do not have a standard template for an involuntary discharge letter.  When they do send a letter, it is usually generated by the Business Office Manager or Social Services Director who usually hasn’t had access to and...

It never fails, someone needs to pick up their paycheck before the scheduled paycheck disbursement time.  We’ll say 2:oo pm on Friday.  You know that there is a reason you were told not to let the paychecks go early.  You know that if you let one employee do it, then every other employee will also have an emergency where they need to get theirs as well.  But this one employee is a really hard-worker.  And, she’s going out...

Every company is different, but something that happens frequently is that an administrator is hired and put in charge of the building without much training on how and what to monitor.  Sometimes, one needs a little direction. Today, we’ll talk about how to monitor your accounts receivables and the basic things you need to know to stay off the AR “Focus” conference calls.  (You get on a focus call with corporate when...

Many Nursing Home Administrators and Business Office Managers do not fully understand the concept of Medicare Reimbursable Bad Debt or realize the potential dollars they may be forfeiting.  I am going to try to break it down so that you can stop losing money and capitalize on an opportunity sitting right in front of you. Let’s set up a typical NH scenario: Resident Jane Doe fell at home and broke her hip.  She was admitted into the...