COVID-19 Medicare billing rules continue to evolve, so it can be challenging to stay abreast of the developments. Some recent changes have given case managers and hospitals more flexibility when it comes to treating both COVID-19 and non-COVID patients, as medical practices increasingly look to resume providing elective surgeries and other procedures.
Doug’s wife drives him to the local hospital emergency department (ED) because he has been experiencing possible COVID-19 symptoms for the past week. His symptoms started with a headache, a dry cough, muscle aches, and a low-grade fever of 99.6 degrees Fahrenheit.
With the current COVID-19 pandemic, healthcare facilities are either working at a frenetic pace to treat an increasing number of sick patients or frantically preparing themselves for what’s yet to come.
Case managers are on the front lines of the COVID-19 pandemic. If you are one of them, you’re likely looking for some guidance to help navigate the challenge, particularly when it comes to patient status decisions.
As the COVID-19 pandemic persists, the government has continued to issue regulatory changes in an attempt to ease the strain hospitals are facing. There are several updates relevant to case managers.
As hospitals across the country scramble to keep up with an influx of COVID-19 patients, while simultaneously experiencing critical shortages of personal protective equipment (PPE), staff, and testing supplies, case managers are being increasingly pulled into the fray.
COVID-19 was officially classified as a global pandemic on March 11 by the World Health Organization (WHO). The rate of fatality varies by age group, with the elderly being more at risk. The statistical projections by the Society of Critical Care Medicine anticipate that approximately 4.8 million people will be hospitalized for COVID-19 in the United States. Some mathematical models predict that this new virus will infect over half the U.S. population.
