Did you factor in a foreign body removal code?
Question: During an open hernia repair for a reducible umbilical hernia, the surgeon finds a sizeable gallstone embedded in the omentum extending into the preperitoneal fat. The surgeon excises the...
Plus: CMS reps cite current Medicare law and advise that practices should report just one inpatient care code per patient, per day.
Although CMS has eliminated payment for consult codes, it will continue to honor split/shared visits — as long...
Watch frequency and provide documentation to rationalize extra pay.
Applying modifier 22 (Increased procedural services) can help increase reimbursement if your neurosurgeon documents a greater-than-usual effort during a surgical service. To ensure your claims’ success, surgeons and coders must also...
Test your 2010 consultation coding understanding with these questions and answers.
Consultation coding has every practice on edge this year. Ensure that you’ve got a handle on this complicated coding and billing situation by taking this three-question quiz and then...
Knowing how to use add-on codes can net you up to $258 in additional reimbursement.
CPT is full of “add-on” codes, additions to minor and major surgical procedures as well as to E/M services. Fortunately for urology there are not…
You may need to append modifier 25, depending on payer policies.
Question: Our physician billed 90634, 90710, and 90606 for vaccines given to a 5-year-old patient. The insurance company denied payment and said they required a modifier. What should we…
Check your 2010 consultation coding savvy.
Find out if you’re set to properly code your physician’s consultation services this year by tackling three problems and their solutions.
Check With Your MAC for Guidance
When…
Related articles:Test your 2010 consultation coding understanding with these questions. Consultation coding has every practice on edge this year. Ensure that you’ve got a handle on this complicated coding and billing situation by trying your hand at this question. Question: When a visit with a Medicare inpatient that would normally have been coded as a consultation does not [...] Related articles:
Include this term in Box 19 to indicate the type of implant. Question: One of our surgeons says we should use a total hip code for Birmingham resurfacing even if he doesn’t complete a total hip procedure; another physician says to use an unlisted code . What’s the correct answer? Washington Subscriber Answer: Both of your physicians could [...] Related articles:
This aspect of op note coding is the “horse that pulls the cart.” Stuck on how to tackle this op note or those sitting on your desk? Follow this advice, provided by Melanie Witt, RN, CPC, COBGC, MA, an ob-gyn coding expert based in Guadalupita, N.M. and co-presenter of the “Ob-Gyn Op Notes” session at the [...] Related articles:
Watch out: Avoid this unlisted code. Question: Is removal of a keloid scar considered an unlisted procedure? What is the right code? Answer: Use 17110 (Destruction [e.g., laser surgery, electrosurgery, cryosurgery, chemosurgery, surgical curettement], of benign lesions other than skin tags or cutaneous vascular lesions; up to 14 lesions) with diagnosis 701.4 (Keloid scar). 17110 and 7111 [...] Related articles:
Catch the changes to botulinum toxin and neurostimulator electrode codes. As a pain management coder, you’re facing new CPT codes for posterior intrafacet implants, paravertebral facet joint injections, and sacroplasty. While preparing to implement these additions, don’t overlook HCPCS changes for botulinum toxin injections and implantable neurostimulator electrodes. Pay Attention to Botox Units A new code for botulinum [...] Related articles:
Marvel Hammer’s Quick Start Guide to changes you’ll face in 2010. Tons of pain management coders gathered at the Orlando conference this week, and everyone was abuzz about the coding changes the painful reimbursement cuts their practices are going to get next year. Some big news: Effective January 1, 2010 radiological imaging will be required and bundled [...] Related articles:
But don’t assume the new codes will yield improved fees. Virtual colonoscopy coverage may be a mixed bag, but the AMA showed some confidence in the service by moving its codes from temporary Category III status to full-fledged Category I in 2010. The switch from Category III to Category I does offer some hope of better reimbursement [...] Related articles:
Urodynamics income will go down by half, experts calculate. You will have three new urodynamics codes to learn starting Jan. 1. CPT 2010 adds the following codes: • 51727 — Complex cystometrogram (ie, calibrated electronic equipment); with urethral pressure profile studies (ie, urethral closure pressure profile), any technique • 51728 — … with voiding pressure studies (ie, bladder voiding pressure), any technique • 51729 — … [...] Related articles:
Prevent 99251-99245 denials in 2010 with this checklist. Multiple physicians using the same hospital codes sounds like a recipe for denials, but that’s what Medicare is instructing physician inpatient consultants and care coordinators to do. Whether carriers will kick out these submissions as coordination of care or inpatient admit limiting admit edits is contractor specific, Charles [...] Related articles: