M2420 — Discharge Disposition
Response options, how to score it, and the error that most often sends the record back. Cited to Ch. 3, Item M2420.
Response options
| Value | Meaning |
|---|---|
| 1 | Patient remained in the community (without skilled services from a Medicare Certified HHA or non-institutional hospice) |
| 2 | Patient remained in the community (with skilled services from a Medicare Certified HHA) |
| 3 | Patient transferred to a non-institutional hospice |
| 4 | Unknown because patient moved to a geographic location not served by this agency |
| UK | Other unknown |
How to score it
Interview the patient/family/caregiver and check with the physician and community resources to determine where the patient is living immediately after discharge from your agency. Code 2 covers two distinct scenarios: the patient receives skilled services from another Medicare-certified HHA, OR your own agency completes its own discharge-and-new-SOC OASIS solely due to a payer source change for that patient (not a transfer to a different agency). Code 3 only for a transfer to a non-institutional ('home') hospice provider. Dash is not a valid response for this item.
The common error
Coding 1 (remained in community without services) when the patient actually transferred to another certified HHA or a home hospice — CMS explicitly carves both of those out of code 1's definition.
Source: OASIS-E2 Guidance Manual — Ch. 3, Item M2420. Verified 2026-04-26.
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