BCN to accept inpatient continued stay reviews and discharge notifications through the e-referral system starting Sept. 4

Starting Sept. 4, 2018, you can submit inpatient continued stay reviews and discharge notifications for BCN HMOSM (commercial) and BCN AdvantageSM members through the e-referral system. This applies to members admitted for non-behavioral health services.

Currently, these requests are faxed in to BCN. However, starting Nov. 1, 2018, we will no longer accept faxed requests.

This change means that BCN HMO (commercial) and BCN Advantage inpatient discharge notifications and continued stay reviews will be processed through the e-referral system, just like they are for Blue Cross PPO (commercial) and Blue Cross Medicare Plus BlueSM PPO members.

To request additional days on an inpatient admission

To request additional days, follow the instructions in the e-referral User Guide for extending an inpatient authorization. Here's what it says: To extend service on an existing Inpatient Authorization, begin by locating your authorization. Click the Edit button on the right side of the details page. Scroll down to the Confinement Extension(s) section, click the Create New button and enter your new dates and the number of days.

You must also submit clinical information related to the continued stay. To do that, follow the instructions in the article How to attach clinical information to your authorization request in the e-referral system, on page 44 in the November-December 2016 issue of BCN Provider News.

To submit a discharge notification

To notify us of a member's discharge, enter the discharge date in the e-referral Case Communication field. As an alternative, you can record the discharge date on a discharge summary form and attach it to the case in e-referral.

Sign up for e-referral

If you don't currently have access to the e-referral system, we encourage you to sign up for it now so you'll be ready to use it before November 1, when faxes are no longer accepted. Follow the instructions on the Sign Up or Change a User page on this website.

Posted: August 2018
Line of business: Blue Care Network