Discharge Date = Date of Death
When a patient expires, our nurses are using the date/time the body leaves the medical unit instead the date the patient expired. They feel it's falsifying records to use the date of death as there are postmortem duties before the body is transferred to the morgue.
I provided resources from the CMS claim guidelines, Joint Commission and the UB04 manual. However, the CMS quote is from 2016 and they want something current.
Does anyone have a link from CMS that specifically states that when a patient expires, the discharge date is the date of death?
Thanks!
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I found a definition of the date of death at https://www.cms.gov/medicare-coverage-database/view/ncd.aspx?NCDId=183, but this doesn't mention discharge date.
This may be a hard one as NUBC is the binding authority, not CMS. Perhaps you could use CMS wording at https://www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/guidance/manuals/downloads/clm104c25.pdf to say that NUBC is the authority?
What is the link on the 2016 CMS quote?
The only phrase I found was under RNHCI. 170.2.2 https://www.cms.gov/regulations-and-guidance/guidance/manuals/downloads/clm104c03.pdf
Something curent??? 2016 is very current in CMS terms. If they changed something, there would be a new publication but they don't republish rules that have not changed.
If a patient is declared dead at 11 pm, and goes to the morgue at 1 am, you cannot include the daily room charge for that last day (the one hour) on the claim as NCD 70.4 specifies. The bed was occupied but not by a living beneficiary. They are welcome to chart "body transported at 1 am."
But why is nursing asking this?
Nursing is asking for a current resource to prove they are right and to continue using the date/time the body leaves the unit. The issue was originally presented by the RI Manager. I suggested asking the nurses to provide resources that using the date/time the body leaves the unit is correct. So far no response.