Archive for the Week of March 10, 2006
Archive for the Week of March 10, 2006
Welcome to the medical billing blog archive for the week of March 10, 2006.
Here you will find links to every article added to the Outsource Management Group web site during the week of March 10, 2006.
You can browse this week's archives by clicking the "More" button from any of the excerpts below.
Big Changes for Medical Billing RVUs
Keep your ears open for medical billing Relative Value Unit changes. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services plans on making huge cuts next year. Strangely, some medical professions will largely benefit from these cuts while a great number of other medical professionals will lose a lot of revenue. Recently, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services released a list of medical billing winners and losers. There are many medical billing current procedural terminology codes that will receive huge double digit slashes next year. Instead of calculating the relative value units from a top down method, they will use a bottom up method. They have suggested four different ways to …
Insurer Helps to Improve Rural Area Medical Billing
Insurance companies aren’t all about taking your medical billing money. They do good as well. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina is an example of an insurance company that thinks of others. Blue Cross Blue Shield donated millions of dollars to help poor communities with medical billing expenses. A large donation of $10 million was given to north Carolina’s community practitioner program. This program is designed to assist under deserve communities with medical billing costs. It supports 95 health care professionals throughout the state. The insurance company is hoping and urging the north Carolina medical society to match their donation of $5 million. If the North Carolina medical …
New Medical Billing Nissen Code
Medical billing for a redo surgery originally done several years earlier can get a bit hazy. A Redo Nissen Surgery performed for a surgery originally done twelve years earlier should be coded the same as a regular laparoscopic Nissen procedure. The medical billing current procedural terminology code 43280 is appropriate for a redo Nissen surgery. The medical billing code CPT 43280 means: Laparoscopy, surgical, esophagogastric fundoplasty. All medical billing, whether a redo or an initial Nissen surgery would be billed using this code. However, when surgery is performed as a redo, problems may arise. For example, the first surgery may have been considerably difficult. Perhaps there was excessive scarring or …
Hazy RX Medical Billing Question
Medical billing denials can be a blessing if your facility is conducting dangerous practices. A common, yet dangerous practice used in many hospitals is the dispensing of medications without an examination. Not only is this type of practice illegal, but it also puts the health of your patients in jeopardy. A medical billing denial for such practices may mean there is something wrong with the way you conduct business. If a patient visits their local family practice doctor, and the doctor decides the patient needs a certain medication, they should receive that medication from a pharmacy. Some family physicians send their patients directly to an emergency department. They call the …
Rehab Services Turn to Free Clinic Medical Billing
Rehab Services Turn to Free Clinic Medical Billing North Carolina is seeing a switch over to free clinic medical billing. Health insurance is on the rise in America. Although health insurance costs may be rising, that does not mean salaries are rising in a parallel fashion. More and more Americans are turning towards free clinics for medical care. In future years we may see more free rehab services popping up on the medical billing scene. The Associated Press online estimates that there are 46 million Americans uninsured today. That would explain why there are over 2000 free clinics in the country. Together, these clinics service over $3 billion in eligible …
Foreign Body Removal Medical Billing: Take 1
Foreign Body Removal Medical Billing: Take 1 Performing medical billing for foreign body removal can bring up many questions. A common location to remove a foreign body is from the eye. A common medical billing question is whether or not the instrument dictates which code should be used when removing of foreign body from the cornea or conjunctiva. The quick answer to this medical billing question is: sometimes. Most of the time, instrumentation is not the most important element of foreign body removal coding. For example, when dealing with conjunctival foreign bodies, it is appropriate to use the medical billing CPT code 65205 (Removal of foreign body, external eye; conjunctival …
Handling Billing Of Electro Diagnostic Testing Denials
EDX Medical Billing Denials If you thought there was no limit to your EDX medical billing, think again. Many physicians believe that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services will reimburse each and every EDX test performed. Look into the 2006 current procedural terminology book, appendix J, here you will find the EDX guidelines. To receive proper medical billing reimbursement, CPT guidelines should be followed. Over the years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services have noticed an abuse of EDX tests. This abuse has led to the medical billing guidelines found in appendix J, of the 2006 CPT book. For different situations and diagnoses, the guidelines indicate how many …
Consumer Driven Insurance Affects Medical Billing
Consumer Driven Insurance Affects Medical Billing Consumer driven insurance has been infectious across America. With healthcare on the rise, consumer driven insurance may be the only solution for affordable treatment. Although this type of insurance gets a bad rap, CIGNA HealthCare recently conducted a study based on insurance cost. The study showed benefits for both the beneficiary and the insurance company in regards to medical billing. A consumer driven insurance plan is a one in which the medical billing model is left responsible to the beneficiary. The patient has a specified number of dollars to use each year. It is their choice whether they want to use their medical billing …
Cochlear Implant Medical Billing
Cochlear Implant Medical Billing Cochlear implants may become more common in the medical billing world in future years. A recent study from Johns Hopkins university dealt with children with human Cytomegalovirus (CMV) deafness after receiving a cochlear implant surgery. The findings from this study may imply more frequent medical billing reimbursement for the cochlear implant. CMV deafness is a common a viral causes of hearing loss in children. Not only is hearing affected in infant’s with this virus, but they’re also at risk for developmental neurological defects. Johns Hopkins university would like to correct one of these two problems. The new cochlear implants study may have a serious impact on …
Congress Tries to Fix Harsh Medical Billing Cuts
Congress Tries to Fix Harsh Medical Billing Cuts Congress realizes that 2007 will come with large medical billing cuts. Each year, it seems that Washington is constantly debating on whether or not physicians will receive Medicare cuts. The practices which service a large number of Medicare patients may be in jeopardy beginning January, 2007. They may have snuck by a medical billing cut this year, but next year will be a different story. February 01, 2006 physicians were lucky enough to sneak by a 4.4% medical billing reimbursement cut. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services are constantly trying to slim down their costs. Unfortunately, these cuts come at the …
