Outpatient observation patients with medicare

[vash1012]

Advertisement - Members don't see this ad

Hey guys,

What policies does your institution have about outpatient observation patients that are covered by medicare? We "require" them to provide their home medications for hospital use since medicare guidelines state they will not pay for medications given in a hospital that a patient is/could take at home. Is this a standard practice elsewhere? Does anyone know how medicare defines what they will and won't pay for for outpatient observation patients?

Thanks

 

[BidingMyTime]

Hey guys,

What policies does your institution have about outpatient observation patients that are covered by medicare? We "require" them to provide their home medications for hospital use since medicare guidelines state they will not pay for medications given in a hospital that a patient is/could take at home. Is this a standard practice elsewhere? Does anyone know how medicare defines what they will and won't pay for for outpatient observation patients?

Thanks

At all the hospitals I've worked at, we did not allow patients to bring in their own medicines for liability reasons--we did make exceptions when we didn't carry the drug or a suitable substitute in stock *and* when the drug was deemed essential. Are you in a large hospital? I've only worked at smaller hospitals, perhaps that makes a difference.

 

[iFarm]

We have many patients that will go in for 23 hour observations. Seems like they are usually allowed to use their home meds during this time, but I'm not sure if the hospitals actually require them to do so due to lack of medicare reimbursement.

Part B is not going to cover the meds, but Part D should. And the patient would have to pay their share of course.