Medicare Administrative Contractor Palmetto GBA is sharing guidance to providers on writing therapy goals.
Beneficiaries generally have more than one goal, Palmetto notes. “A good way to assess the medical necessity of each goal is to ask 'What difference does performing this activity mean to the beneficiary?'”
They state that the documentation of the beneficiary encounter should relate back to the goals.
Among the suggestions included in the tips is the RUMBA test:
- Relevant: functional goals and achievement; patient-specific
- Understandable: legible and avoid jargon; use of accepted standard terminology
- Measurable: includes frequency and duration, how long it occurred or how many times
- Behavioral: measurable occurrences
- Achievable: reasonable