Good Morning MFS Bloggers, I have recently been asked the following question from a few providers:
Can a therapy assistant provide therapy visits?
Answer:
No. As per CMS, the new therapy maintenance codes, G0159, G0160 and G0161 are described in Change Request (CR) 7182 as services performed by a qualified physical therapist, occupational therapist and speech-language pathologist in the home health setting within the establishment or delivery of a safe and effective maintenance program.
Additionally, CR 7182 revises the current descriptions for existing G-codes for physical therapists (G0151), occupational therapists (G0152) and speech-language pathologists (G0153) to include in the descriptions that they are intended for the reporting of services provided by a qualified physical or occupational therapist or speech language pathologist.
A qualified therapist is one who meets the personnel requirements in the Conditions of Participation (CoPs) which is available in the Code of Federal Regulations (42 CFR) Section 484.4 (PDF, 147 KB).
