Gastrointestinal conditions support a skilled Part A day in several common scenarios: recovery from a gastrointestinal bleed, post-abdominal-surgery recovery, early care and teaching for a new ostomy, recovery from a bowel obstruction, and severe or infectious diarrhea such as Clostridioides difficile. The skilled element is the GI observation — monitoring for re-bleeding, obstruction, or dehydration — together with new-ostomy care and teaching and the management of the bowel plan.
The purpose of this module is to prove, for each billed day, that skilled GI observation, a covered procedure, teaching, or management of the plan was reasonable, necessary, needed daily, and available only in a SNF under Pub. 100-02 Chapter 8. The GI exam is the same as in home care; the coverage spine is re-pointed. Enteral feeding is authored in the Nutrition reference.
