Patient discharge status · UB-04 FL 17

Patient status 63: transfer to a long term care hospital.

Patient discharge status code 63 is the code CMS lists for a patient discharged to a long term care hospital (LTCH). In the IPPS postacute care transfer policy, it is one of the codes that can make a discharge count as a transfer. Code 91 is the planned-readmission version.

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What CMS says about code 63

Chapter 3, section 40.2.4 describes postacute care transfers from an IPPS hospital. It lists the facilities excluded from IPPS and gives their patient discharge status codes: inpatient rehabilitation facilities and units (code 62 or planned readmission code 90), long term care hospitals (code 63 or planned acute care hospital inpatient readmission code 91), psychiatric hospitals and units (code 65 or 93), and children's hospitals and cancer hospitals (code 05 or 85).

How the transfer rule works

Under that section, a discharge from certain qualifying MS-DRGs is treated as a transfer for payment when the patient goes to one of the listed settings. The same list also includes a skilled nursing facility (code 03 or 83), hospice (codes 50 and 51), and home under a written home health plan of care that begins within 3 days (code 06 or 86). The section says that for these cases the hospital applies the correct patient discharge status code, and that the qualifying MS-DRGs are in Table 5 of the applicable fiscal year IPPS Federal Register notice.

Code 63 in IRF billing

Chapter 3, section 140.3 says the following patient discharge status codes are applicable under the transfer policy for IRF PPS: 02, 03, 61, 62, 63 and 64. So 63 also appears when an inpatient rehabilitation facility transfers a patient to a long term care hospital.

What to check

Confirm that the receiving facility is a long term care hospital before using 63.
If the patient is going to home with home health starting within 3 days, the code is 06, not 63; the manual notes condition codes 42 and 43 for related cases.
If the hospital learns later that postacute care was provided, the manual says to submit an adjusted bill.

Worked example (hypothetical)

An IPPS hospital discharges a patient in a qualifying MS-DRG to a long term care hospital. The claim carries patient discharge status 63. Because the setting is on the postacute list, the discharge is evaluated under the transfer payment policy instead of as a routine discharge.

What this page does not do

The NUBC owns and licenses the full patient discharge status code set. CMS says in chapter 25 that the codes are available from Medicare contractors and from the NUBC Official UB-04 Data Specifications Manual, so this page uses only the wording CMS itself prints in its manuals and does not reproduce the NUBC table.

Other codes in this set

Patient status 20, Patient status 30.

Sources

CMS: Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 3 (Inpatient Hospital Billing), Rev. 14000, issued 10-08-26 — read 2026-11-02
CMS: Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 25 (Completing and Processing the CMS-1450 Data Set), section 75.2, FL 17 — says the patient status codes are available from Medicare contractors and from the NUBC (retrieved 2026-11-02)

The CMS manual passages above were read on November 2, 2026. Payers and CMS revise code lists, contracts and policies, so confirm anything that affects a claim or a payment with your Medicare Administrative Contractor.

Frequently asked questions

What does status 63 mean?

CMS lists "long term care hospitals (Patient Discharge Status Code 63...)" among the IPPS-excluded facilities in its postacute care transfer rule.

What is the readmission version of 63?

The manual pairs 63 with planned acute care hospital inpatient readmission patient discharge status code 91.

Is this the full list of patient status codes?

No. The NUBC licenses the full code set. CMS says the codes are available from Medicare contractors and from the NUBC.

Not legal, billing or medical advice

This page explains published CMS code definitions and runs a lookup in your browser. It cannot see your claim, your contract or any payer's policy. Confirm with your Medicare Administrative Contractor before you resubmit, appeal or bill a patient.