Congress Puts Off 21 Percent Pay Cut Until May

But because legislators missed the cutoff by one day, some claims were processed using a lower rate.

Although the government appeared poised to take a big bite out of your next Part B payments, you have another month before...

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PT Coders: Clinging to MD Approval? Check This Out

Question: Our hospital billing and medical departments say that diagnoses we add to a claim for reimbursement must have a physician endorsement. We’ve researched our Local Coverage Determination (L26884) from National Government Services, the Ingenix Coding & Payment Guide for...

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Gastro Coders: Be Aware of Medicare Screening Reqs Or Risk Payment Denial

Following 10-year-rule eliminates G0121 rejection.

If you slip up on screening colonoscopy claims’ frequency guidelines and eligibility requirements, Medicare will pay you zilch.

Use this guidance to capture every screening dollar your gastroenterologist deserves.

Home in on Eligibility Requirements for...

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21 Percent Pay Cut Kicked in April 1 — But MACs Are Holding Claims

No legislative wrangling can take place until April 12.

Unless Congress steps in soon, you could be facing the 21.2 percent Medicare pay cut that you’ve feared since January.

Despite several Congressional attempts to cobble together another temporary pay fix...

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Don’t Bill One Physician Incident-To Another

Find out what incident-to requirements you have to meet.

Question: Is there any circumstance in which a group can bill all services and all providers (including other physicians) under just the head doctor? I know we can bill NPP...

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Surgical Modifiers: Protect Yourself From Instant ‘PC’ Claim Denials

Don’t let ‘wrong surgery’ modifier mistakes stall your reimbursement.

You use modifier TC for the technical component of a test. So logically, you should use modifier PC for the professional component, right? Wrong. But many coders are making that mistake...

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Use This Sample Appeal Letter As Ammo in Your Fight Against Modifier 25 Denials

Attach your procedure notes and the OIG’s report to pack extra punch.

Even if you follow all of CMS’s rules in reporting modifier 25 (Significant, separately identifiable evaluation and management service by the same physician on the same day of the

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Medicare Physician Pay Cut Update

On Tuesday evening, the Senate passed H.R. 4691, which freezes the Medicare conversion factor at current levels through March 31.

Because of this vote, you will not face the 21% pay cut until April 1, explains Part B Insider editor,…

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  3. How Obama’s Medicare Cuts Hit Physician Reimbursement  The budget released Thursday suggests we cut $300 billion from...

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Get Paid for EM Visits: How Much ROS Documentation Is Enough?

Caution: Keep enough paperwork on hand to back up EHR. Transitioning to the world of Electronic Health Records (EHR) can make your coding easier on many levels, but don’t take it for granted. Physicians often fall short in their review of systems (ROS) documentation whether you use paper charts or rely on EHR, but you can [...] Related articles:

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Red Alert, Cardiology Coders: Expect EP Study + Ablation Denials Until April 1

CMS won’t fix CCI blunder until version 16.1, to be released in the spring. If your heart skipped a beat when you saw that January’s Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edits bundled catheter ablations with electrophysiology (EP) studies, you weren’t alone. Good news: CMS has decided to delete the edits retroactively because their addition was a mistake, according [...] Related articles:

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CMS Delays Ordering/Referring PECOS Regulation Until 2011

Take the extra time to get your practice registered in PECOS — don’t wait until the end of the year, CMS reps say. Practices that were busily struggling to find out whether their ordering/referring physicians’ national provider identifiers (NPIs) were in the PECOS system can relax a little bit — at least until next year. If your physician performs [...] Related articles:

  1. CMS: Billing Co. Can’t Fill Out PECOS Form on Doc’s BehalfIf you’ve grown accustomed to a designated credentialing specialist in...
  2. A Press Release Is Not a Legal Ruling, PECOS Pundits Point OutKeep an eye on the Federal Register as you use...
  3. CMS Changes Course: Physicians Need Not Personally Complete PECOS ApplicationWhat a difference three months makes, especially when it comes...

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OIG Hit List: Perfect Your 38220, 38221, and G0364 Usage

Don’t sweat reporting 38220-59 if you meet these Medicare-approved conditions. If your oncologist takes both a bone marrow biopsy and a bone marrow aspiration, whether you’ll see Medicare reimbursement depends on the two guidelines below. But watch out: With OIG scrutiny and a HCPCS twist, these guidelines will put your coding savvy to the test. Append 59 [...] Related articles:

  1. Coding Education: Bone Marrow Harvesting for Autologous TransplantQuestion: Is there a CPT code specific to harvesting bone...
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  3. Multiple Bronchoscopy Coding Crash Course Head off denials & ratchet up reimbursement with these...

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