Correct Answer: hospitalization the nurse practitioner needs to know which services are covered by different parts of medicare to properly inform patients and ensure they receive the correct medical care coverage. medicare, the federal health insurance program in the united states, is divided into different parts, each covering specific types of services.
medicare part a primarily covers inpatient hospital care, skilled nursing facility care, hospice, and home health care. it is often referred to as hospital insurance. when a patient is formally admitted to a hospital with a doctor's order, the services they receive are typically covered under medicare part a. this includes their stay in a hospital or skilled nursing facility, as well as some home health care services and hospice care.
on the other hand, medicare part b covers two types of services: medically necessary services and preventive services. medically necessary services are services or supplies that are needed to diagnose or treat a medical condition and that meet accepted standards of medical practice. this includes things like outpatient care, doctor's services, physical therapy, and some home health care. preventive services include health care to prevent illness (like the flu) or detect it at an early stage when treatment is most likely to work best.
specifically, medicare part b covers services such as durable medical equipment (dme), which includes items like wheelchairs, walkers, and hospital beds used at home. it also covers rehabilitation services, which can include physical therapy, occupational therapy, and speech-language pathology services. additionally, outpatient care provided by doctors and other health care providers, along with some home health care and some services provided by skilled nursing facilities, are covered under part b, but only on an outpatient basis.
given this understanding, when examining the coverage details of medicare part b, it is clear that hospitalization is not covered under this part. hospitalization falls under the coverage of medicare part a, which handles inpatient care. therefore, when the nurse practitioner is presented with the question of which services medicare part b does not cover, the correct answer is "hospitalization." this distinction is crucial for ensuring that patients understand where their coverage comes from and how they might be billed, depending on the type of care they receive.
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