Physician Care Plan Oversight (CPO) is paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), and due to a provision in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Publication 100-04, Chapter 12, Section 180), Non-Physician Practitioners (NPPs) have been prohibited from billing for this service in a home health setting.
The current manual section (Section 180) provides that the physician who signs the plan of care for home health services must be the same person that bills for physician CPO. Since only a physician can sign the plan of care for home health services, NPPs have been unable to bill for physician home health CPO.
Under the Final Physician Fee Schedule Rule, published in the Federal Register on November 15, 2004, nurse practitioners (NPs), physician assistants (PAs), and clinical nurse specialists (CNSs), practicing within the scope of state law, may bill for CPO.
The intention of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), as outlined in later portions of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual, was to allow NPPs to bill for physician CPO within their state scope of practice. The current inconsistency in Section 180 will not allow NPPs to be paid for this service.
CR4374 revises the policy that states that the same provider that signs the plan of care does not have to be the same provider that bills for physician CPO effective October 2, 2006.
See Med Learn Matters MM4374 at the hgsa website, www.hgsa.com, which is now Highmark Medicare Services.
