| (a) Reviews conducted under the Texas Medical Review Program (TMRP), Tax Equity and Fiscal Responsibility Act (TEFRA), and LoneSTAR Select II Contracting programs may result in denials of claims. The Texas Health and Human Services Commission (Commission) will notify the hospital in writing of the denial decision, and instruct the claims administrator to recoup payment. If a hospital claim is denied for lack of medical necessity or for being provided in an inappropriate setting, the Commission will consider for denial physician claims associated with the hospital admission or service when such claims can be identified and are deemed to be the result of inappropriate admission orders. Types of denials are: (1) Admission and days of stay denials. A physician consultant under contract with the Commission makes all decisions regarding medical necessity, cause of readmission, and appropriateness of setting. (2) Technical denials. The Commission will issue a technical denial when a hospital fails to make the complete medical record available for review within specified time frames. These services may not be rebilled on an outpatient basis. (A) For on-site reviews, if the complete medical record is not made available during the on-site review, the Commission will issue a preliminary technical denial at that time. The hospital is allowed sixty calendar days from the date of the exit conference to provide the complete medical record to the Commission. If the complete medical record is not received by the Commission within this time frame, the Commission will issue a final technical denial. If the Commission requests a copy of the medical record in writing, and the copy is not received within the specified time frame, the Commission will issue a preliminary technical denial by certified mail or fax machine. The hospital has sixty calendar days from the date of the notice to submit the complete medical record. If the complete medical record is not received by the Commission within this time frame, the Commission will issue a final technical denial. (B) For mail-in reviews, the Commission will request copies of medical records in writing. If the Commission does not receive the complete medical record within the specified time frame, the Commission will issue a preliminary technical denial by certified mail or fax machine. The hospital has sixty calendar days from the date of the notice to submit the complete medical record. If the Commission does not receive the complete medical record within this specified time frame, the Commission will issue a final technical denial. (3) Readmission denial. If it is determined that the services provided in the second or subsequent admissions were the direct result of a premature discharge or should have been provided in the first or previous admission, the Commission will deny the admission in question (4) Day outlier denial. If it is determined that any days qualifying as outlier days during the admission were not medically necessary, the Commission will deny those days. (5) Cost outlier denial. If it is determined that services delivered were not medically necessary, not ordered by a physician, not rendered or billed appropriately, or not substantiated in the medical record, the Commission will deny those services. (b) When an admission denial or day of stay denial is issued, the Commission will direct the claims administrator to recoup payment. If a hospital claim is denied for lack of medical necessity or for being provided in an inappropriate setting, the Commission will consider for denial physician claims associated with the hospital admission or service when such claims can be identified and are deemed to be the result of inappropriate admission orders. The Commission will make an exception in the case of TMRP hospitals if the patient was originally placed in observation, and the hospital has been notified by the Commission that they may submit a revised outpatient claim solely for medically necessary outpatient services provided during the observation period. A physician's order for observation must be present in the physician's orders to document that the patient was originally placed in outpatient observation. The hospital must submit the revised outpatient claim and a copy of the Commission's notification letter to the claims administrator at the address indicated in the notification letter. The claims administrator must receive the outpatient claim and copy of the notification letter within one hundred twenty calendar days of the date of the notification letter. The claims administrator may consider payment for the medically necessary services provided during the twenty-four hour observation period. The hospital may provide observation services in any part of the hospital where a patient can be assessed, monitored and treated. |
| Source Note: The provisions of this §371.206 adopted to be effective June 14, 1989, 14 TexReg 2624; amended to be effective February 1, 1991, 16 TexReg 232; amended to be effective January 1, 1993, 17 TexReg 8457; transferred effective September 1, 1993, as published in the Texas Register January 28, 1994, 19 TexReg 589; amended to be effective November 22, 1995, 20 TexReg 9274; amended to be effective March 25, 1996, 21 TexReg 2079; transferred effective September 1, 1997, as published in theTexasRegisterFebruary 18, 2000, 25 TexReg1308; amended to be effective March 30, 2003, 28 TexReg 2481; amended to be effective January 11, 2004, 29 TexReg 357; amended to be effective April 14, 2004, 29 TexReg 3611 |
