Can Students Treat Medicare Patients and Bill For Those Services?

I am often asked if the time a student treats a Medicare patient for physical, occupational and/or speech therapy services, is that time billable to the Medicare program? In this article, I will answer this question as it applies to inpatient acute care, inpatient rehabilitation facilities, skilled nursing facilities providing Part A therapy services and outpatient therapy settings.

Question
In the Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) setting, do the minutes of therapy provided by the student therapist count towards the required 3-hours of therapy at least 5 days per week?

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Question
In the inpatient hospital acute care setting, can therapy students treat Medicare beneficiaries and have those services “billed” to the Medicare program?

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Question
In outpatient therapy, can a therapy student treat a Medicare Part B beneficiary and have those services billed to the Medicare program?

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Question
Under skilled nursing facility (SNF) Part A therapy services, do the minutes of therapy provided by the student count towards the billable time?

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I hope this article answered your questions regarding the billing of services provided by therapy students to the Medicare program. Thank you for being a Gold Member!