With the new year comes new opportunities and apparently, new policy changes too, for the home health sector. Effective January 1, 2022, home health agencies (HHAs) are no longer required to submit a Request for Anticipated Payment or what is commonly known as RAP. The RAP will be replaced by a one-time Notice of Admission (NOA) to cover the entire stay of the patient. To get you ready and steady for the NOA changes this year, here are some of the most frequently asked questions on this topic.
What billing code should I use for the NOA?
You should send your NOA using Type of Bill (TOB) 32A. Once the NOA is submitted, HHA will continue to be required to submit a 30-day Final claim (TOB) 329 for the period of care when there are services provided for that period and all succeeding periods while the patient is under your care.
Do I need any supporting documents before I submit the NOA?
Before you can submit a NOA, HHAs must have received the appropriate physician’s written or verbal order that contains the services required for an initial visit, and the HHA has conducted the initial visit at the start of care
How can I submit the NOA?
You can submit the NOA using your current EMR software if they have a direct submission to your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), or Direct Data Entry (DDE) or by using any approved Clearinghouse.
What do I do with services which started in 2021 and continued to 2022?
If you have patients that received home health services from 2021 and continued to 2022, you would need to submit an NOA indicating a one time, artificial admission date which corresponds to the “From” date of the first period of continuing care in 2022.
When should I submit a NOA?
You should submit the NOA to your MAC within five (5) calendar days from the start of care date. The NOA only needs to be submitted when there is a new home health admission. Submitting NOA late will cause a reduction on your payment amount for each day from the start of care date until the date of your NOA submission.
Get your EMR NOA-ready this 2022. Data Soft Logic, as your Intelligent Care Partner wants to help you through this transition to ensure that your agency’s operations are not disrupted by this policy change. To know more about how we can help you, schedule a demo with us now.
