Home Health Tip: Face-to-Face Encounter

Please ensure that the face-to-face encounter for home health is completed within 90 days prior to or 30 days after the start of care. Include clinical findings to support the need for skilled services; documentation must support the homebound status of the patient. The certifying physician’s, allowed practitioner's and/or the acute/post-acute care facility’s medical record for the patient must contain the actual clinical note for the face-to-face encounter visit that demonstrates that the encounter:

• Occurred within the required timeframe
• Was related to the primary reason the patient requires home health services and
• Was performed by an allowed provider type