Medical Billing Blog: Section - General Info
Archive of all Articles in the General Info Section
This is the archive containing links to all articles written in the General Info section of our blog.
Click any of the article links below to read the entire article or browse another section to the right to read articles on another subject.
Medical Billing Dilemma : Reporting Incision
Medical Billing Dilemma : Reporting Incision A common medical billing question is: When is appropriate to use an incision code. This question comes up many times when the removal of foreign bodies occur. In only certain instances would you report an incision code in medical billing. When removing a foreign body, if the physician makes an actual incision to remove the object, then the proper incision medical billing code should be used. The two main incision codes are 10120 (Incision and removal of foreign body, subcutaneous tissues; simple) and 10121 ( Incision and removal of foreign body, subcutaneous tissues; complicated.) This seems fairly simple, however, there are certain medical billing …
Avoid Denials On Disaster Related Medical Billing Claims
Avoid Denials On Disaster Related Medical Billing Claims Natural disasters like Hurricane Katrina have made it quite apparent that medical billing should reflect these disasters. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has issued a new condition code and a new modifier to reflect treatment for disaster related patients. These medical billing codes should have gone into effect on October 3, but no later then October 31. The two new disaster related medical billing codes are quite necessary now-a-days. This country has seen countless hurricanes, September 11, fires, etc. The new condition code that will be used in medical billing is DR. This stands for disaster related. The new medical …
Tricks For Protecting PHI on Your DME Business
Tricks For Protecting PHI on Your DME Business Perhaps one of the most important aspects of medical billing is protecting your patients’ PHI. Durable medical equipment companies can have just as much of a problem with confidentiality as any other medical facility or practice. There are four main tips for DME businesses to protect the medical billing PHI information. The first rule is medical equipment tracking. Some medical devices contain personal medical billing PHI information. When these devices are used by a patient, they could potentially breach that confidentiality if the information was not properly stored or disposed. It is much easier to track the device itself than to track …
Medical Billing – Don’t Be Tricked By Transfer Care
Medical Billing – Don’t Be Tricked By Transfer Care Performing medical billing for maternity transfer of care can get sticky. There are certain rules you should follow to get correct reimbursement for your patients’ prenatal care. Their is a correct way to do medical billing for transfer of care. There are two main ways to do medical billing for maternity care: separate visit reports, global billing. Separate medical billing means that you bill the prenatal visits separate from the delivery fee. Global fee means that you lump the prenatal visits and the delivery all into one large fee. If a pregnant woman is transferred to your practice and you do …
Why Proper Coding is so Important to Medical Billing
Why Proper Coding is so Important to Medical Billing Correct coding is the essence of proper medical billing. Without correct coding, claims would never be paid. There are several ways to ensure your medical billing claims always get sent with accurate information. One way to ensure your practice has correct medical billing is to make sure you personnel are properly trained. Hiring the correct staff members can be key. A perfect coder would be one that has specific medical coding experience. This could be through a medical organization such as the American Association of Medical Billers. Another great organization is the Association of Registered Professionals. After they complete the medical …
The Right Medical Billing Code For Home Dialysis
Using The Right Medical Billing Code For Home Dialysis A simple, but crucial medical billing change has recently occurred. Beginning on October 1, 2005, the Medicare durable medical equipment regional carrier (DMERC) will no longer accept the diagnosis code 585.0. Instead of using ICD-9 585.0, medical billing should be done with the ICD-9 code 585.6 for home dialysis charges. The code 585.0 means chronic renal failure. This code has now been discontinued and the DMERC will no longer be lenient on the code. The more descriptive code, 585.6 (end stage renal disease) much more accurately describes the diagnosis for home dialysis. It is important that your medical billing staff note …
Using V58.3 Correctly In Your Medical Billing
Using V58.3 Correctly In Your Medical Billing Using code V58.3 in medical billing should be used with care. Beginning on October 6, 2005 the Regional home health intermediary conducted a review of all claims submitted with this code. V58.3 means attention to surgical dressings and sutures. Soon this medical billing code will be closely scrutinized for medical necessity. Now a days, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services closely examines each and every claim that comes through their department. Over billing and fraud have become so prevalent, that they must keep a close eye on these medical billing practices. One of the codes they have decided to crack down on …
Using The 3-Year Rule In Your Medical Billing
Using The 3-Year Rule In Your Medical Billing Did you know that the medical billing rule states that your patient is new if you haven’t seen them for three years? There are usually several questions people have about how to code a semi-established patient. There are some simple medical billing tips to keep in mind when performing this task. It is a common medical billing mistake to bill for a new patient visit when the patient is merely visiting a different doctor in the same medical practice. The rule states that if you are using the same provider code, then you are considered one entity. Even if the time spent …
Simplify Pregnant Patient Transfer On Your Billing
Simplify Pregnant Patient Transfer On Your Medical Billing Pregnancy medical billing is a fairly straight forward process. That is, unless the patient transfers practices in the middle of her prenatal care. Pregnancy transfers scare many medical billing personnel, however if you can remember three tips, maternity transfers will be a snap. How you do medical billing for a maternity transfer all depends on how many times she was seen in the clinic. If she was seen 1-3 times you always want to code those visits as evaluation and management visits. One thing to keep in mind is that the first antipartum visit is not as straight forward as you may …
Hospital Discharge – A Commonly Misbilled Service
Medical Billing – A Commonly Misbilled Service Many people believe medical billing can be a pain, but in some instances correct medical billing can bring you additional money. A commonly missbilled service is the professional fee for a hospital discharge. There are many medical billing mistakes made with this service. People bill for the discharge when they are not supposed to, and then don’t bill when they are entitled reimbursement. Medical billing personnel also tend to bill an incorrect CPT code when they do bill for hospital discharge. This hospital discharge medical billing mess needs to get straightened out! First of all, many times physicians should not bill separately for …
