From the public record · not a Soft Home Global client
Face-to-face encounters and secondary diagnosis codes: what OIG found at Bridge Home Health
At Bridge Home Health, OIG found three kinds of error in 10 of 100 sampled claims: unsupported or incorrect codes (six claims, including unsupported secondary diagnosis codes), face-to-face encounters that did not meet requirements (three claims, $6,337 in overpayments), and one claim without a documented skilled need. OIG attributed them to the agency not always adequately reviewing medical record documentation.
This is a summary of a published audit by the HHS Office of Inspector General. Bridge Home Health is not a client of Soft Home Global, and Soft Home Global had no part in the audit. Every figure is quoted from the report, which is linked below — read it rather than rely on this page. Where Bridge Home Health disputed a finding, that is shown too: these are audit findings, not a court’s verdict.
The audit
What went wrong, claim type by claim type
Face-to-face encounter requirements not met
3 claims · $6,337
The documented face-to-face encounter did not meet Medicare home health requirements.
Why, per the report: OIG: the agency did not always adequately review medical record documentation.
Unsupported or incorrect codes
6 claims · Net underpayment of $291
Claims were billed with unsupported or incorrect codes, including unsupported secondary diagnosis codes.
Why, per the report: OIG: the agency did not always adequately review medical record documentation.
Skilled need not met
1 claim · No overpayment
The record did not support a skilled need for the services.
Why, per the report: OIG: the agency did not always adequately review medical record documentation.
How it was to be resolved
OIG recommended that Bridge Home Health:
- Refund $6,046 in net overpayments
- Identify similar instances of noncompliance and return any additional overpayments
- Strengthen review of medical record documentation
What Bridge Home Health said: Bridge Home Health concurred with all recommendations and described corrective actions taken since the audit period.
What a practice or billing team can take from it
These points are Soft Home Global’s reading of the report, not OIG’s words.
- The face-to-face encounter is a condition of payment, not paperwork. A missing or deficient one makes an otherwise correct claim unpayable.
- Secondary diagnosis codes change the payment grouping. Each one needs support in the record, not just in the referral.
- Coding errors do not only overpay. Six of these claims were wrong and the net effect was an underpayment.
Questions
What causes home health claims to fail a Medicare audit?
At Bridge Home Health, OIG found three kinds of error in 10 of 100 sampled claims: unsupported or incorrect codes (six claims, including unsupported secondary diagnosis codes), face-to-face encounters that did not meet requirements (three claims, $6,337 in overpayments), and one claim without a documented skilled need. OIG attributed them to the agency not always adequately reviewing medical record documentation.
Is Bridge Home Health a Soft Home Global client?
No. This page summarises a public audit report published by the HHS Office of Inspector General (report A-05-23-00017, issued 19 December 2024). Soft Home Global had no involvement with Bridge Home Health or with the audit.
Did Bridge Home Health agree with the findings?
Bridge Home Health concurred with all recommendations and described corrective actions taken since the audit period.
Source
Figures read from the report on 15 September 2026.
Next step
Would your claims pass the same review?
Send a ninety-day denial report and an aged AR summary, with no patient identifiers. Within two working days you get a written summary of which denial reasons are costing you most and what is recoverable.
Or write to ops@softhomeglobal.com