Medicare Part B Therapy Program Development Part II

The first thing to do when starting your Medicare Part B Therapy Program Development is making sure your team is properly therapy screening.  Therapy screening is essential in identifying patients for areas of decline or improvement before loss becomes permanent or opportunities for improvement are missed. The following is a suggested approach to conducting an efficient and thorough screen:

Review previous therapy documentation for most recent services or reviews.
Review flowsheets for previous three months and current month's notes for any dramatic changes in coding.

The implementation of a Medicare Part B Therapy Program should include the review nursing documentation for one month to identify any red flag areas (falls, skin issues, positioning issues, feeding issues).
Review MD orders for 1-2 months for diet change orders, equipment orders, and recent acute diagnoses.
Interview at least one CNA and nurse to discuss the patient's functional level during am care, meals and mobility.
Visually assess the patient for postural mal-alignment, vocal difficulties, and or self feeding issues.
Interview the patient if applicable to question any self identified changes in performance.