Three words: Outpatient observation status. Hospital patients and their families are often blindsided by the effect of these words. Outpatient observation status is a billing code hospitals use to protect themselves from penalty by Medicare for admitting patients for treatment which Medicare believes should have been provided on an outpatient basis. Use of this code (more…)<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Picture this: You\u2019re 80 years old and you suffer a fall that lands you in the hospital for a week. At the end of your stay, you are discharged to a rehab facility for three weeks of rehabilitation and skilled…<\/span><\/p>\n