The need for detailed justifications in letters of medical necessity can cause them to take up to three hours to write, cutting into valuable time providing hands-on services to clients. LMNBuilder.com is an online tool to assist clinicians and rehab tech suppliers (RTSs) in creating letters of medical necessity in thirty minutes or less. It's 100% HIPAA compliant and can be used from any computer, whether at home or at work, with internet access. There's nothing to download, nothing to maintain or update, and no conflict of interest for the RTS who simply creates a spec sheet for the client using a web-based tool.
When a spec sheet is ready, the clinician receives an email. When the email is accepted, the spec sheet is loaded into the letter building tool. The clinician is then prompted to transfer the needed information about the client, his or her physician, and insurance or Medicare from the spec sheet with a few clicks of the mouse. Next, the clinician addresses the justification portion of the letter. The tool learns how the clinician writes the justification for the equipment in question, and inserts the needed information with just a few key strokes. No content that hasn't been created or approved of by the clinician is included in the letter. Then the clinician adds any necessary details specific to the client, gives it one final edit, and subsequently downloads it for printing and signature with a fax cover sheet attached. After several uses of the LMNbuilder, the time spent writing a letter of medical necessity may be as fast as 15 minutes.
The clinician has the ability to add details such as photographs, assessment records, information on how the client needs to be seated for optimal positioning, web links and other research citations to support the need, and information on the recommended product. For the RTSs, LMNbuilder date-stamps each spec sheet and client file, flags the ones coming up on a deadline, and keeps the records for five years, the same amount of time as paper records.
Insurance companies and Medicare require detailed information on the patient's diagnosis as well as why one piece of equipment won't work as well as another for him or her. Information provided by letters created by LMNbuilder's tools give the reviewers a well-rounded picture of the client and his or her needs, increasing the odds that the reviewer will authorize payment for the equipment in question.
The LMNbuilder ensures secure data transfer through SSL (secure socket layer) technology, the same security utilized as when a shopper makes online purchases with a credit or debit card. It requires the use of a user ID and password to access data, and has a firewall to prevent unauthorized outside access. The data is backed up on separate secure servers to ensure its safe keeping. Clinicians and RTSs alike have been impressed with the LMNbuilder's ease of use and ability to speed up the process. It's received coverage in Mobility Management and the Hidden Brains blog.
Fran Jablway
and
Hulet Smith, OT
