Finalizing a Medicare Note - 8 Minute Rule
Important: When treating and billing for Medicare patients, you Must bill in accordance with the Medicare 8 Minute Rule. This must be performed on every piece of documentation. If you happen to receive an error message that you are under-billing or over-billing, you'll need to correct the billing.
Below is the information for Medicare's 8 Minute Rule. The units below apply only to the Direct Timed Code units:
- 0 units = 0 minutes must be entered into the Direct Time box
- 1 unit = 8-22
- 2 units = 23-37
- 3 units = 38-52
- 4 units = 53-67
- 5 units = 68-82
- 6 units = 83-97
- 7 units = 98-112
- 8 units = 113-127
Total Direct Minutes = The total time spent on the Direct Timed Code activities
Total Treatment Units = The total time spent on treating the patient ( Total Direct Minutes PLUS minutes spent on Untimed Codes)
Example
Suppose your Medicare patient is being billed for 1 unit of Gait Training, 1 unit of Therapeutic Exercise, and the Initial Examination. With 2 Direct Timed Codes, we must choose a range of 23-37 minutes of Total Direct Minutes. The Total Treatment Minutes is a combination of both Untimed and Direct Timed Codes.
