Hospice Transmittal R13944CP: Telehealth F2F Encounter Reporting — Update Claims by January 4
CR 14495 adds telehealth reporting requirements for hospice F2F recertification encounters on hospice claims, effective January 4, 2027.
Action required by
January 4, 2027
Review the Action Required section below and ensure your team has completed all compliance steps before this date.
CMS Transmittal R13944CP (CR 14495), published under Publication 100-04, establishes new reporting requirements for face-to-face (F2F) encounters conducted via telecommunications technology by a hospice physician or hospice nurse practitioner (NP) for purposes of hospice recertification. This is a claims processing transmittal with an implementation date of January 4, 2027. The single most critical compliance implication: hospice claims submitted on or after January 4, 2027 must reflect the updated reporting methodology for telehealth-conducted F2F recertification encounters — failure to apply the new reporting requirements will result in non-compliant claims.
Regulatory Background
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Quick answers
Does CR 14495 apply only to the recertification F2F encounter, or does it also affect the initial hospice certification process?
Based on the source document, CR 14495 specifically addresses the face-to-face encounter required for recertification — conducted by a hospice physician or hospice nurse practitioner via telecommunications technology. The transmittal title and scope reference recertification only. Refer to the full CR 14495 document to confirm whether initial certification encounters are addressed separately.
Our hospice submits claims through a clearinghouse. Will the clearinghouse automatically apply the new F2F telehealth reporting fields, or must we configure them?
CR 14495 targets shared systems implementation on January 4, 2027, meaning the claims processing system will apply updated edits from that date. However, whether your clearinghouse or billing software populates the required claim fields correctly depends on their own release schedule for the Publication 100-04 update. Obtain written confirmation from your vendor that the CR 14495 changes are included in a release deployed before January 4, 2027, and test a sample claim before the go-live date.
If a hospice NP conducts the recertification F2F encounter via telehealth before January 4, 2027, but the claim is submitted after that date, which reporting requirement applies?
The implementation date for shared systems edits is January 4, 2027. Transmittals generally govern the claim based on the date of service or the date of billing, depending on how CMS structures the CR instructions. Review the full CR 14495 for the specific applicability rule — the source document provided does not detail how CMS handles the crossover period between the January 1, 2027 effective date and the January 4, 2027 system implementation date.
Content summarized from publicly available federal publications including CMS, MAC contractors, and the Federal Register. CLV Intelligence is not affiliated with or endorsed by any government agency. This is not legal or medical advice.