HCFA finalizes 72-hour rule
Four years after publishing its initial "72-hour rule" for public and industry commentary, Baltimore-based Health Care Financing Administration (HCFA) has issued its final draft of the rule.
The statute is meant to prevent hospitals from double billing Medicare for patients who receive outpatient services within three days of being admitted to acute care.
The following services are excluded from the scope of the 72-hour rule:
s Part A services, such as home health, hospice and skilled nursing facility services;
s Ambulance services;
s Chronic maintenance renal dialysis.
However, HCFA has refused to exclude outpatient chemotherapy and radiation therapy, or blood transfusions for chronic conditions. Such transfusions, HCFA claims, are often related to a change in condition.
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