You are working in an outpatient clinic that deals primarily with Medicare Part B as your payor. You have an aide in your clinic, and you ask the aide to complete the therapeutic exercise program with the client, and you bill for these services. Is this wrong?
Answer
You need to review the rules for aides, particularly as it relates to Medicare. This is a non-billable service. The aide absolutely cannot provide skilled care. Now again, if they oversaw the ther-ex program that was routine that the patient was doing and that they are very familiar with and you weren't billing for it, that's a different scenario. But in this case, you cannot do that. If you were billing, you need to obviously back out those charges because they are not skilled.
Kathleen D. Weissberg, OTD, OTR/L, CMDCP, CDP, CFPS
In her 30+ years of practice, Dr. Kathleen Weissberg has worked in rehabilitation and long-term care as an executive, researcher, and educator. She has established numerous programs in nursing facilities; authored peer-reviewed publications on topics such as low vision, dementia quality care, and wellness; and has spoken at national and international conferences. She provides continuing education support to over 40,000 individuals nationwide as National Director of Education for Select Rehabilitation. She is a Certified Dementia Care Practitioner, a Certified Montessori Dementia Care Practitioner, and a Certified Fall Prevention Specialist. She serves as the Region 1 Director for the American Occupational Therapy Association Political Action Committee and adjunct professor at Gannon University in Erie, PA.
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