Archive for the Week of May 5, 2006
Archive for the Week of May 5, 2006
Welcome to the medical billing blog archive for the week of May 5, 2006.
Here you will find links to every article added to the Outsource Management Group web site during the week of May 5, 2006.
You can browse this week's archives by clicking the "More" button from any of the excerpts below.
Problem Free Medical Billing
Did you know that you could have absolutely seamless medical billing claims? No more hassles with keeping up with the changes in coding and no more keeping up with the paper chase that a lot of filing medical billing claims has become. All you have to do is outsource your medical billing. Your medical billing partner will take care of the making sure there is a logical flow of billing on your medical billing claims, as well as following up to make sure that you get the maximum reimbursement of all your claims. Many physicians unknowingly give away thousands upon thousands of dollars each year through undercoding their medical billing …
Will Outsourcing Get My Billing Reimbursements Faster?
It doesn’t sound logical. Sending your claims out of your office to someone else would actually speed up the process of getting reimbursed, but letting someone else handle your medical billing and coding really does speed up the process. Think about how often your in-house staff gets interrupted, how often the crisis du jour arises and day to day managing of the office prevents them from filing, double checking accuracy, and following up on your submitted claims. Time is also lost re-submitting claims when they get kicked back for the smallest of errors in coding. As you know, Medicare is extremely strict as far as coding and re-submissions can seriously …
Reporting Observation Medical Billing Claims
You know the basics for reporting observation services in the ED. However, there are some common coding mistakes that can be costing you in the form or partial or rejected services. Don’t worry about the location of the services for observation. Observation is a service and not necessarily a physical place within the ED where the patient can stay. Another way to insure full reimbursement is to make sure that you have a specific written order from the physician for observation. Medical documentation should include time notes from both the doctor and nurses. Avoid using codes 99228-99220 when reporting observation. It is used to determine whether or not a patient …
Correct Multiple Procedure Medical Billing
When multiple procedures are performed, you do not have to append modifier 51 for each group of procedures. The CPT manual designates modifier 51 (Multiple procedures) exempt codes with a “circle with a slash” symbol to the left of the code for the services rendered. There is usually a complete listing of modifier 51 exempt codes in an appendix. The list is “a summary of CPT codes that are exempt from the use of modifier 51 but have NOT been designated as CPT add-on procedures/services,” according to CPT 2006. As an example look up a code in your CPT. Arterial catheterization code 36620 (Arterial catheterization or cannulation for sampling, monitoring …
Using the Proper IV Codes
When you have a medical billing claim using codes for infusion codes 90760 and 90761, which are for Intravenous infusion, hydration; initial, up to one hour and each additional hour, up to 8 hours [list separately in addition to code for primary procedure] respectively are used for physician billing in general according to the new CPT 2006 release. Make sure of these IV codes in your medical billing if they accurately describe the service performed and you will reap the rewards in your reimbursements. Be sure to check out the individual carrier’s policies for paying on these codings and be aware that Medicare has specific requirements to meet prior to …
Medical Billing Questions – Is Oxygen a Separate Code?
If you’re having trouble finding an oxygen administration coding in the CPT, the reason is that there is no specific oxygen administration codings for your medical billing. When a patient requires oxygen, the use of the oxygen is bundled into the day’s EM services. When a doctor prescribes the oxygen, you should use the appropriate office visit code that describes the procedure and services performed by the physicians that necessitates the need for oxygen. Full documentation of the medical billing claim will insure that your bundled oxygen administrations codings get full reimbursement. For example, if you have a physician who performs a detailed examination and incurs moderate complexity decision making …
Incorrect Medical Coding Can Cost You
Incorrect coding of your medical billing claims is the number one reason for loss of revenue in most practices. Simply put, if you’re not coding correctly, you’re losing money. Sometimes your medical billing claims will be partially paid, other times they will be completely denied. This causes lost time because your staff will need to go back, pull the file, verify what procedure was done, look up the code to make sure it hasn’t change and refile and resubmit the claim. When you consider on the average about 30% of paper claims are denied or kicked back for errors, throw in the fact sometimes medical billing codes can change 4 …
New Coding For Educational Services
You may already be tearing your hair out trying to keep up with the ever-changing CPT codings and relearning the newly changed codes on your superbill. There were also 3 low-key series additions that describe educational services that you may provide. Education and Training For Patient Self Management includes the following codes: * 98960–Education and training for patient self-management by a qualified, nonphysician healthcare professional using a standardized curriculum, face-to-face with the patient (could include caregiver/family) each 30 minutes; individual patient. * 98961–… 2-4 patients * 98962–… 5-8 patients. Reserve Self-Management for Non-MD Education is another set that was added and includes the range of codes from (96150-96155). Only non-physicians …
Medical Billing Dilemma – Reporting Two Codes
When a laparoscopic procedure is performed, it may seem like it should be reported separately from the open procedure, however at this time, most carriers and that includes Medicare will only pay for one open procedure no matter how much work the surgeon does laparoscopically beforehand. With very rare exception, you should report the open procedure only as using the laparoscopic code may result in your medical billing claimed being deemed over coded and will be rejected. Another rule of thumb to know when reporting this type of procedure is when an endoscopic procedure is attempted and fails on the patient and then another surgical service is rendered, only the …
Looking Ahead to the 2007 Physician Fee Schedule
CMS has released a preview of its payment adjustments for physicians in 2007 and in the preview ,there are even more cuts in Part B reimbursement. CMS projects a 4.6 percent cut to the 2007 Physician Fee Schedule, and explaining this is due to an almost 9 percent increase in spending as a large contributing factor to this decision. On the list of spending increases that was released by CMS, the minor procedures category is listed as one of the fastest growing areas with the highest number of claims being in the fields of podiatry and dermatology. Of the 9 procedures that accounted for the largest spending growth, the following …
