Medicare guidelines for pta supervision in home health

Often times therapists end up working in a private practice after working in a hospital or a rehab agency and may inadvertently think that the same supervision rules apply.

Therapy Supervision – Know the Rules

The Medicare basis for therapy supervision rules for outpatient rehabilitation therapy services are the same as those for diagnostic tests defined in 42CFR410.32. (Code of Federal Regulations) Depending on the setting, the supervision levels include personal supervision (in the room), direct supervision (in the office suite), and general supervision (is available but not necessarily on the premises).

Per CMS ” Services that can be safely and effectively furnished by nonskilled personnel or by PTAs or OTAs without the supervision of therapists are not rehabilitative therapy services.”  In the Medicare Benefits Policy Manual, Chapter 15, CMS describes the services of a physical therapist assistant (PTA):

…..services of PTAs used when providing covered therapy benefits are included as part of the covered service. These services are billed by the supervising physical therapist. PTAs may not provide evaluative or assessment services, make clinical judgments or decisions; develop, manage, or furnish skilled maintenance program services; or take responsibility for the service. They act at the direction and under the supervision of the treating physical therapist and in accordance with state laws.

This lays necessary policy guidance to describe supervision:

The level and frequency of supervision differs by setting (and by state or local law). General supervision is required for PTAs in all settings except private practice (which requires direct supervision) unless state practice requirements are more stringent, in which case state or local requirements must be followed.

For example, in clinics, rehab agencies, and public health agencies, 42CFR485.713 indicates:

that when a PTA provides services, either on or off the organization’s premises, those services are supervised by a qualified physical therapist who makes an onsite supervisory visit at least once every 30 days or more frequently if required by state or local laws or regulation.

While the above examples addresses physical therapist assistants CMS also provides similar guidance for occupational therapy assistants (OTAs) in the Medicare Benefits Policy Manual, Chapter 15 at Section 230.2 (C).  CMS does not allow for the services of a speech-language pathology assistant to be billed to Medicare.

In a nutshell, PTAs and COTAs in private practice must have direct (onsite) supervision by the supervising PT or OT in order to bill Medicare.  PTAs and COTAs working in hospitals, rehab agencies and CORFs require general supervision, and the supervising therapist must be available, but does not need to be on the premises.  Review this blog post for guidance on TRICARE and the use of PTAs in private practice.  If you are a Medicaid provider ensure that you know the supervision rules.  And in all instances reference an updated copy of the PT and OT practice acts in your state to ensure compliance with supervision rules.  Stay tuned for a future post on supervision and use of assistants will billing incident-to.

Do you have PTAs and COTAs providing services in your outpatient therapy rehab program?  Are these services billed to federal healthcare programs including Medicare, Medicaid and Tricare?  Is your supervision policy compliant with both payor polices and your practice act?

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