Starting on October 1, 2023 CMS approved a new street medicine place of service code. This will allow street medicine teams providing services to unhoused community members to bill for services.
The significance of this is the following:
- Street medicine is now recognized as existing and part of the healthcare system nationwide.
- Street medicine is reimbursable nationwide. This was previously only in CA and HI.
- Street medicine is distinguished from other places of services like Mobile (POS 15)
- Street medicine visits can be uniquely identified for purposes of MCP contracts with different rates and scopes of work AND to allow for Direct Access (out-of-network referrals can be more easily approved)
- The ability to uniquely identify street medicine visits and patients will create the ability to collect data to gain a better understanding of the needs of people experiencing unsheltered homelessness to inform the creation of a more equitable care model.
The description for the new code POS 27 is as follows, “A non-permanent location on the street or found environment, not described by any other POS code, where health professionals provide preventive, screening, diagnostic, and/or treatment services to unsheltered homeless individuals.”
We are thankful for national advocates that made this possible and hope to continue to support the work of providers doing street outreach in Washington state.
Additional links: Place of Service Code Set | CMS
If you have any questions, please contact [email protected]
