Unclean Claim
An unclean claim lacks sufficient information to pay or deny, and results in an examiner requesting information from a source outside the Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs), such as a participating physician group (PPG) or hospital. The following are examples of claims considered to be unclean (this list is not all inclusive):
- A claim does not have the necessary fields completed to process the claim, for example, the provider identification (ID) number.
- The claim does not have a diagnosis that is immediately identifiable as an emergency, out-of-area urgently needed service, or out-of-area renal dialysis.
- The claim lacks the necessary medical records for medical review to determine the medical necessity or liability for urgent or emergency care.
- A claim that appears to be fraudulent or is in a foreign language or currency.
Unclean Claim Adjudication
In accordance with standards established by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), MAOs and PPGs are required to pay or deny non-clean claims within 60 calendar days of receipt.