MEDICARE HOME HEALTH FACE TO FACE ENCOUNTER
REQUIREMENT BEGINS JANUARY 1, 2011

 

Effective January 1, 2011, all patients needing Medicare reimbursed home health care services will be required to have a documented face to face encounter within the 90 day period before or 30 days after the initiation of needed home health care services. The purpose of this mandate is to assure that the order for home care is based on current knowledge of the patient’s condition

This encounter may be with a certifying physician or other allowable non physician provider (NPP) such as a nurse practitioner who is practicing in accordance with state law. The definition of an “allowable nurse practitioner” is the same as that used for standard nurse practitioner reimbursement under Part B Medicare. However, under this new requirement, a physician must document that he or she, or an allowed NPP has had a face to face encounter with the patient in this time frame. This provision does not change the regulatory requirement that a physician must order the service, but does allow a nurse practitioner to provide the required encounter with documentation from the physician that the encounter occurred. If you have questions about this new provision please contact the AANP at 202-966-6414 or email dcoffice@aanp.org 

  FDA ANNOUNCES RECALL OF ABBOTT GLUCOSE STRIPS MANUFACTURED BETWEEN JANUARY AND SEPTEMBER 2010

 The US Food and Drug Administration has announced that the agency is working with Abbott Diabetes Care to recall 359 different lots of glucose test strips marketed under the following brand names: 

• Precision Xceed Pro;
• Precision Xtra;
• Medisense Optium;
• Optium;
• OptiumEZ; and
• ReliOn Ultima

The recall pertains to certain lots of these test strips distributed in the United States and Puerto Rico. Other Abbott Diabetes Care products are not affected by the recall.  Click http://www.aanp.org/NR/rdonlyres/F16B6416-6AA2-4D19-B6E4-B29CCD8DF881/4477/FDANEWSRELEASE.pdf for further information regarding this recall.

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