An official State of Texas website.
Revision 09-4; Effective December 1, 2009
When a recipient in a long-term care facility is discharged to a Medicaid-certified hospital, the recipient continues to be eligible during his/her absence. Redetermine eligibility if the recipient does not re-enter the nursing facility after discharge from the hospital.
To monitor a recipient in a nursing facility who is discharged to a hospital, use a tracking system. This ensures prompt awareness of a change in the recipient's status, such as death or a return to the community after he/she is discharged to a hospital.
The following procedures are recommended for establishing a tracking system:
- Immediately upon receipt of Form 3618, Resident Transaction Notice, showing discharge to a hospital, establish a control record for the recipient. Use Form 3618 as the control record or prepare a card file record. The control file may be maintained separately by each eligibility specialist or centrally for all eligibility specialists in an office.
- At least every 15 calendar days, confirm the recipient's status and location. Contact the nursing facility first because the recipient may have been readmitted. If he/she has not returned to the facility, the facility may supply the name of the hospital or the authorized representative to determine if the recipient is still a patient. Follow up with the hospital or authorized representative every 15 days until the recipient returns to the nursing facility, is discharged to another living arrangement or dies.
- If the recipient is no longer in the hospital, remove the control record from the file and take action to update the case, if required.