Medical Billing Forum
Billing => Facility Billing => : oneround February 22, 2011, 08:54:11 PM
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Hello all,
I am reviewing charts in which the patients are being discharged from routine care and then re-admitted for clinical studies. My question is does the patient need to be discharged home prior to the clinical admit or should the discharge disposistion be 'Discharged transferred to another acute care facility?
Any advice would be appreciated
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Oneround,
What are they being discharged from and are they being readmitted to the same facility?
Michele
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Michelle, Pt. is being discharged from IP acute. Readmitted to the same facility but under clinical trial.
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Wow, I've never come across this before. Is that really considered a new admission if they are just being changed from IP acute to clinical trial? Isn't it like being moved from ICU to a regular room, not an admission, just a change in room? Does the dr actually do a discharge, and then another admission?
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It appears so. I am finding in my research that the pt. would choose the study as an elective and all transfer of care would be under the clinical study. I'm thinking that becasue pt. would have discharged home but instead elected to go into the study then it may be best to use the dispo of -01. I have just never seen this scenario before and was hoping to get some input form the fourm.
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I was hoping there would be someone else that had encountered this scenario, but it doesn't appear so. Anyway, now I'm leaning the other way. They are being discharged from care, and if they decided not to do the clinical study they would have been discharged to home, so it's not like being sent from ICU to a regular bed. I think I would go with the 'Discharged transferred to another acute care facility?'.
Michele