More than 700 pages of text make up proposed changes to the federal Stark and anti-kickback statutes. On Wednesday, Oct. 9, federal healthcare officials announced two new proposed rules. While…
I shouldn’t be surprised. I have been reviewing denials by insurance companies since the late 1980s. I’ve seen the same things over and over again, such as slow pay, delayed…
Medical coders are typically behind the scenes of patient care, analyzing records, selecting codes for billing, and managing patient data. But to Jannifer Owens, a revenue cycle expert with over…
Patients come to your office looking for answers to their pain or lack of function. It’s critical that a doctor doesn’t do what one of my clients admitted to recently…“X-raying…
A change in government payment policy for dermatologists and other physicians in selecting office coding and billing for evaluation and management (E/M) is scheduled to begin January 2021. “The Centers…
Hospitals support the CMS' proposed changes to medical billing coding and new payments for opioid treatment programs, but they're worried that changes to quality measures could hurt providers. Major medical…
After two years of following a doctor around the office as a medical assistant, Raina Diaz was ready for a change. “I wanted to be part of the back end…
October is Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Make sure your practice’s medical coding for preventive screening mammograms is up to date with current guidelines. Coding Mammograms for Medicare The Centers for…
Confusion persists for the coding of vaping. The issue of vaping continues to generate national and international headlines. On Sept. 18, a teen from London, Ontario in Canada suffered a…
Noridian uses scenarios for the parenteral administration of iron in non-dialysis patients. The Noridian iron infusion Local Coverage Determination (LCD) is important for just about everyone since Noridian is the…
Q: Is reporting of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes 99218-99220 restricted to a single physician? A: According to CPT guidelines, only the physician or non-physician practitioner (NPP) placing the patient…
Artificial intelligence. The tech industry is just so enthusiastic for it and with good reason. As if the ability to process immense amounts of data wasn’t already good enough, the…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently published the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Proposed Rule. While many issues are included in the 1,700-page rule, three are…
Denials are a source of frustration for all physicians. When left unmanaged, they’re also one reason why physicians ultimately sell or close their practices, says Dorothy Steed, CCS, CDIP, revenue…
Say goodbye to RUG-IV, and hello to the Patient-Driven Payment Model (PDPM). This is a daunting task, not for the faint of heart. Under PDPM, reimbursement for Medicare Part A…
Hospital compliance programs have the potential to prevent costly denials and healthcare fraud investigations by conducting audits of high-risk areas, including coding, clinical documentation, and medical billing. Yet hospitals are…