NGS, a Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) servicing 19 states, recently released tips for documenting homebound status.
The top tip: Don’t use standard phrases like “taxing effort to leave the home.” Documentation should be clear and specific, NGS notes.
Other helpful documentation to support homebound status should include but is not limited to, the patient’s diagnosis, duration of the condition, clinical course, prognosis, nature and extent of functional limitations or other therapeutic interventions.
NGS also says there is no specific distance for a beneficiary to ambulate that would rule out homebound status, but the documentation should note details on the patient’s considerable or taxing effort. For example, mentioning pain limitations, fatigue, dyspnea, a limited range of motion impairing overall functional mobility, impaired balance or a need for rest to recover.