Archive for The Month of November, 2006
Archive for the Month of November, 2006
Welcome to the medical billing blog archive for the month of November, 2006.
Here you will find links to every article added to the Outsource Management Group web site during the month of November, 2006.
You can browse this month's archives by clicking the "More" button from any of the excerpts below.
Rejected Claims Hurt Revenue
In the fast paced world of medical billing, it can be difficult for your staff to keep up with not only a busy practice, patient phone calls, needs that crop up and then the medical billing too. If a member of your staff misses a line item on your medical billing or uses an out of date code, it can directly affect your revenue in the form of a claim that isn’t fully paid or worse a rejected item that requires your staff to pull the file, review the documentation and then resubmit the claim to the carrier. This takes valuable time away from your practice and has your staff …
You’re Coding Modifier 59 Correctly With These Tips
Using a modifier incorrectly can cost you in terms of reimbursements and time. Carriers are closely scrutinizing medical billing claims for incorrect usage of modified 59. There are two main areas that you can concentrate on to avoid getting his with denials or pay backs and insure that you use the modifier correctly. A study of the OIG found a 40% error rate for modifier 59 and you can double check your billing. First of all, in order to use modifier 59 there must be services performed at separate regions. Fifteen percent of the OIG’s audited claims using modifier 59 had procedures that weren’t distinct because “they were performed at …
Avoid Reductions By Properly Reporting Modifier 52
Avoid Fee Reductions By Reporting Modifier 52 Properly If it has become a habit to append modifier 52 every time your medical billing has a service that doesn’t exactly meet a CPT code description, you could be unknowingly cutting your compensation on your submitted claims. AMA CPT guidelines state that modifier 52 should be used when the physician partially reduces or eliminates a service or procedure at his own discretion. The CMS guide lines state as follows: “when a procedure/service performed is significantly less than usually required”. What you should do is report the code as usual for the procedure and then append modifier 52 to show that the services …
Oh No! Medicare Computer Glitch!
The software switch is over at Medicare, but keep your eyes peeled for medical billing mistakes coming from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Medicare Part B carriers have switched software systems over to a new billing software that is part of a multi-carrier system. Some carriers have already switched to the system, some are in the process of switching and some will change in the near future, many providers are implementing this switch in January 2007. During the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services software switch, there were many medical billing claim errors. Errors that have occurred or could possibly occur again in the future include: missing updated …
Critical Care Evaluation and Management Reimbursements Made Easy
Pediatrics has many medical billing codes that were created just for the use of describing procedures. However, there are other areas of medical billing that do not have these specific codes for children. This can make coding hit or miss unless you know the nuances of what the carrier wants in order to get the maximum reimbursements for procedures performed. A common dilemma is with CPT code 99293 and its use for outpatient emergency room exams for an infant or if code 99291 should be used. The medical billing code 99291 means critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically injured patient; first 30-74 minutes. You would …
Are Your Arteriogram Claims Getting Paid?
This article will make you a bilateral renal arteriogram medical billing pro. There are many code confusions with this increasingly common surgical procedure. Some payers will not pay a cent if you submit your medical billing with the wrong code combinations. However, doing medical billing for renal arteriograms can be quite simple. There are two codes one should report when doing medical billing for a renal bilateral arteriogram. The current procedural terminology code 36245 should be reported twice. Then the Current Procedural Terminology code 75724-26 should be reported. Do not make the mistake in adding a G0275 to your claim because the renal arteriography already includes that service. If you …
Proper Reporting for Varicose Vein Repair
Varicose vein treatments are becoming more and more frequent as more patients are urged to get them treated to stave off the possibility of blood clots and other issues that can crop up later if they are left unaddressed by the patient. However reporting the varicose vein treatment procedure on the medical billing may be a little confusion for some; once you know the basics for setting it up – it’s easy! A good example would be if a patient with varicose veins in her left lower leg presents to the ED and is stating she has severe pain in her leg. One of the veins is clearly bleeding so …
Is Sloppy Coding and Lack of Time to Follow Up Hurting Your Bottom Line?
In a word: yes. If your staff has gotten sloppy in their compilation of your medical billing claims and your office is so busy that no one has time to follow up on medical billing claims; it is costing your practice in the form of real dollars. If you’re not already outsourcing your medical billing, your practice is most likely part of the statistic that shows that nearly one fourth of all medical practice income is lost due to under pricing, under coding, missed billing and claims that go unreimbursed. Imagine if you could add up to one extra fourth of your business income; would you expand your practice? Add …
Want to Outsource Your Medical Billing But Hesitate?
The word “outsourcing” has become a dirty word for many physicians that have been burned by medical billing companies that either outsourced their claims to medical billing companies that use neither secure networks nor adhere to HIPAA regulation in order to maximize their profits; or the outsourcing company just turned out to not be reliable and it wound up costing the practice money to utilize their services. Don’t let a bad experience keep you from partnering with a legitimate medical billing company that can not only help you get your reimbursements faster but also realize great profits by maximizing every single medical billing claim that is filed to make sure …
Get Your Consultation Medical Billing Reimbursed
Since consultation requirements have increased in the last year as far as criteria for getting them reimbursed in your medical billing claims, there are some criteria you must be certain that your claims meet in order to justify using codes 99241-99255. It used to be simple and medical billing consultant merely had to meet the three “R’s” in order to justify medical billing claims for consultations. However the criteria for what does and does not constitute a consultation has changed and in order to make sure that your medical billing claims are paid, you need to reacquaint yourself with the three R’s of medical billing for consultations. The three R’s …
