Posted Tuesday, October 26, 2021
Filing the Notice of Admission (NOA)
Starting January 1, 2022, an NOA should be filed for every home health patient with an admission date corresponding to the first date of service on or after 1/1/22. If a patient is admitted on December 31, 2021, file a RAP according to 2021 No-Pay RAP rules and submit an NOA on the first day of the second period of the episode (1/30/22) to remain in compliance.
The HHA is only required to submit one NOA at the start of an admission period. It remains effective through discharge. However, if a patient is discharged and then readmitted, a new NOA is required. Remember: for an NOA to be valid, the HHA must have a written or verbal physician’s order and the initial SOC visit must be completed.
Submitting the NOA
The NOA must be submitted to your A/B MAC (HHH) and accepted by the MAC within 5 days of the admission date on the NOA. Submit the NOA through the EMR or enter it into the DDE directly.
Medicare will Require Home Health Providers to Submit a One-Time Notice of Admission, Instead of RAPs, Beginning January 1, 2022.
Just as there was a penalty for non-timely submissions of the RAPs, providers will be penalized if they don’t submit the NOA within 5 calendar days from the start of care date. The same penalty parameters apply for late submission of NOAs that are in effect for RAPs.
Avoiding the Penalty
HHA’s will not be responsible for late NOA filings if they are caused by circumstances beyond their control. Some examples listed by CMS include:
- Fires, floods, earthquakes, or other unusual events that inflict extensive damage to the HHA’s ability to operate;
- An event that produces a data filing problem due to a CMS or A/B MAC (HHH) systems issue beyond the control of the HHA;
- A newly Medicare-certified HHA that is notified of that certification after the Medicare certification date, or which is awaiting its user ID from its A/B MAC (HHH); or
- Other circumstances determined by CMS to be beyond the control of the HHA.
Looking for Help with the Change?
Just when you thought you understood all the payment rules and claims requirements – whoops! – they changed again. If you need help with regulatory and compliance mandates to ensure your claims are accurately filed and paid, call Corridor at 1-866-263-3795 or Contact Corridor today and talk to one of our experts.
About Corridor
For over 30 years, Corridor has partnered with home-based care providers, delivering powerful solutions to support the unique challenges of caring for patients in the home. Our team of operating executives, clinicians, and nationally renowned industry experts have run provider organizations and resolved the same challenges you face.
Focusing on key operational, regulatory and financial challenges, Corridor delivers solutions and deep expertise in coding, clinical documentation, compliance, billing and education.
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