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The rules say that plans must pay for a medical service or item if regular Medicare would pay for it in this case. You can find this rule at 42 Code of Federal Regulations (CFR) Section 422.101.
Medicare guidance says for medical review purposes, Medicare requires that services provided/ordered/certified be authenticated by the persons responsible for the care of the beneficiary in accordance with Medicare's policies. For example, if the physician's authenticated documentation corroborates the nurse's unsigned note, and the physician was the responsible party per Medicare's payment policy, medical reviewers would consider signature requirements to have been met. The method used shall be a handwritten or electronic signature. Stamped signatures are not acceptable. EXCEPTION 2: There are some circumstances for which an order does not need to be signed. For example, orders for some clinical diagnostic tests are not required to be signed. The rules in 42 CFR 410 and Pub.100-02 chapter 15, 80.6.1 state that if the order for the clinical diagnostic test is unsigned, there must be medical documentation (e.g., a progress note) by the treating physician that he/she intended the clinical diagnostic test be performed. This documentation showing the intent that the test be performed must be authenticated by the author via a handwritten or electronic signature. Per the Medicare references listed below; the rules state: The physician must clearly document, in the medical record, his or her intent that the test be performed. An "order" is a communication from the treating physician/practitioner requesting that a diagnostic test be performed for a beneficiary. The order may conditionally request an additional diagnostic test for a particular beneficiary if the result of the initial diagnostic test ordered yields to a certain value determined by the treating physician/practitioner (e.g., if test X is negative, then perform test Y). An order may be delivered via the following forms of communication: A written document signed by the treating physician/practitioner, which is hand-delivered, mailed, or faxed to the testing facility; NOTE: No signature is required on orders for clinical diagnostic tests paid on the basis of the clinical laboratory fee schedule, the physician fee schedule, or for physician pathology services; A telephone call by the treating physician/practitioner or his/her office to the testing facility; and An electronic mail by the treating physician/practitioner or his/her office to the testing facility. If the order is communicated via telephone, both the treating physician/practitioner or his/her office, and the testing facility must document the telephone call in their respective copies of the beneficiary's medical records. While a physician order is not required to be signed, the physician must clearly document, in the medical record, his or her intent that the test be performed. Section 4317 of the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 provides, with respect to diagnostic laboratory and certain other services, that "if the Secretary (or fiscal agent of the Secretary) requires the entity furnishing the services to provide diagnostic or other medical information to the entity, the physician or practitioner ordering the service shall provide that information to the entity at the time the service is ordered by the physician or practitioner. Unless otherwise specified, the MAC, RAC and ZPIC/UPIC shall request information from the billing provider/supplier. The treating physician, another clinician, provider, or supplier should submit the requested documentation. However, because the provider selected for review is the one whose payment is at risk, it is this provider who is ultimately responsible for submitting, within the established timelines, the documentation requested by the MAC, CERT, RAC and ZPIC/UPIC." Per the Medicare Claims Processing Manual reference below: "All test codes should be processed and stored in history as they are submitted. That is, if tests are submitted as individual CPT codes together and paid as a panel (see 90), the claim history data will reflect the individual codes and the panel used in pricing. All tests must maintain their identity as billed. You can find this guidance in the Medicare Program Integrity Manual, Chapter 3 - Verifying Potential Errors and Taking Corrective Actions, Section 3.2.3.3 - Third-party Additional Documentation Request and Section
3.3.2.4 - Signature Requirements; Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, Chapter 15 - Covered Medical and Other Health Services; Section 80.6 - Requirements for Ordering and Following Orders for Diagnostic Tests, Subsection 80.6.1 - Definitions; Medicare Claims Processing Manual, Chapter 16 - Laboratory Services, Section 90.3 - Claims Processing Requirements for Panel and Profile Tests.
If you want to read these Medicare rules, you can go to this website www.medicareappeal.com.