04/14/2009 Present on Admissions Indicator (POA Indicator) Ask-the-Contractor Teleconference (ACT) Minutes
April 14, 2009
Chairperson: Benjamin Doll
The Central ACT call was conducted by Benjamin Doll, Medicare Outreach Analyst for the Central region out of Omaha, NE at 2:30 PM Central Time. The topic for the ACT was Present on Admissions Indicator (POA).
The teleconference began with an introduction of the WPS Medicare participants on the call.
Providers who registered for this ACT call were sent the PowerPoint presentation on the topic via e-mail. The presentation covered the Medicare regulations; reporting requirements; POA Indicator options and definitions; how to report the POA Indicator; failure to properly report POA Indicators; POA indicators' effect on payment; and Hospital Acquired Conditions (HACs). After the presentation, the lines were open to participants for questions.
Questions and Answers:
Q1. If a physician notes a decubitus ulcer three days after admission but states that the ulcer was present on admission, should the ulcer be reported as present on admission and how should that be documented?
A1. If the physician documents that the decubitus ulcer was present on admission, the ulcer should be reported as present on admission on the claim. Documentation should include the care for that decubitus ulcer (staging, undermining, etc.).
Q2. When can we assume a condition, like sepsis, is present on admission? These types of conditions are not usually evident at the time of admission. For example, a patient will admit and the blood culture won't show sepsis for 48 hours.
A2. Sepsis is one of those conditions that take several days to diagnose through testing. Whether the condition was present on admission depends upon how the admission source, and the signs and symptoms displayed by the patient at admission. If the patient admitted from a nursing home and the symptoms are present prior to admission or upon admission, then the condition would be considered present on admission. Be sure that the physician and the nursing staff are correctly documenting the condition.
There were no more questions. Providers were encouraged to submit topics for future ACT calls to Benjamin.Doll@wpsic.com.
The ACT call ended at 2:46 PM.
There were 73 provider lines with 150 participants on the teleconference.
Page Last Updated: Thursday, 18-Mar-2010 05:49:33 CDT
