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.
Critical Care Codes Documentation
Critical Care Codes Documentation Critical care is not only extremely important to save lives, but is also important in medical billing. Only the most experienced medical billers understand how to bill critical care correctly. There are several rules one should keep in mind when doing medical billing for a critical care patient. The two critical care Current procedural terminology codes are 99291 (Critical care, evaluation and management of the critically ill or critically injured patient; first 30-74 minutes) and 99292 ( each additional 30 minutes). Obviously, these codes are only appropriate for medical billing when there is a critically ill or injured patient. However, this can be more difficult to …
Check Endoscopic Medical Billing Claims Twice
Check Endoscopic Medical Billing Claims Twice Endoscopic procedures may be a sore subject for some medical billing professionals. Medicare and Medicaid may keep a closer eye on these services for the time being. The University of Rochester’s Strong Memorial Hospital submitted claims from September 2001 to December 2003 for endoscopic procedures that were wrongfully billed. Learn from other’s mistakes and don’t let your endoscopic medical billing get out of control. Not only was this New York hospital audited once by Medicaid, but it was audited again by Medicare. In total costs, the hospital repaid over $500,000 combined to these organizations. There were two reasons the medical billing was incorrect. Many …
Missouri Will No Longer Pay for DME Expenses
Missouri Will No Longer Pay for Medical Billing DME Expenses Recently America was shocked when Missouri was granted the right to refuse durable medical equipment Medicaid payment. This medical billing news has started much controversy and media attention. Simply put, a federal judge in Missouri advised that the state no longer has to pay for durable medical equipment like wheel chairs, walkers, hospital beds, and catheter tubes for individuals on Medicaid. There are three situations in which the state is still required to pay for these items: if they are pregnant, in a nursing home, or blind. There has been much controversy over this medical billing issue. As a matter …
Radiology Claims Are On The Rise, Are You Ready?
Radiology Claims Are On The Rise, Are You Ready? Radiology claims have become more abundant when performing medical billing. Sometimes evaluation and management radiology claims can get confusing. It is important to understand the correct medical billing practices in order to ensure your practice’s correct reimbursement. Radiologists can perform several types of services. One of these services is an evaluation and management session. When doing medical billing for a radiologist it is important to make sure a session meets three categories before coding it as evaluation and management session. The three categories are: request, render, and report. The first necessary element for a radiologist E/M visit is a formal request …
Outsourcing Your Chiropractic Medical Billing
Outsourcing Your Chiropractic Medical Billing Chiropractic offices are often overlooked in the medical billing community. Your chiropractic practice can benefit just as much from outsourcing your medical billing as any other type of practice. There are nuances in the chiropractic industry that can make or break your medical billing claims being reimbursed. One of the biggest things that gets your chiropractic medical billing claims denied is lack of good documentation. Make sure you have good back up documentation before you file. Take the extra effort to be certain you have the right paperwork and coding before the claim is filed. Also, make sure the CPT codes haven’t changed otherwise, you …
Avoiding Claim Denials For AMCC Tests
Avoiding Claim Denials For AMCC Tests When billing with medical modifier codes for automated multi-channel chemistry it is important to bill correctly to prevent denial. When a patient has end-stage renal disease it is important to use the 50/50 medical billing rule. This rule requires automatic multi-channel chemistry tests to be correctly identified on claims. Recently, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid services has decided to deny laboratory claims that do not comply with this rule. The correct medical billing modifier for an automatic multi-channel chemistry test is required in order to prevent this denial from occurring. This is required when ever a medical end-stage renal disease facility or a …
Update Your Reporting Method To Medicare
Update Your Reporting Method To Medicare or Face Denials Times are changing when performing electronic medical billing to Medicare. Beginning on August 1, 2005, noncompliant electronic claims billed will be denied. These billed medical claims must be compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Currently there is a medical billing contingency plan in effect that does accept these noncompliant claims, but that will soon end. In order to ensure the most efficient payment possible, submitting compliant electronic claims is recommended. Otherwise, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will send the claim back to you unprocessed and with no payment. To get medically reimbursed for this billing, …
Medical Billing Denials – Matching Your Place of Service
Avoiding Medical Billing Denials – Matching Your Place of Service Place of service codes are very important when performing medical billing. The place of service code will determine whether or not your practice is paid for services rendered. There are several different current procedural terminology medical billing codes that bring about confusion when choosing a place of service code. Many times when billing for home services, medical providers get confused as to which place of service code to use. The only time the actual place of service “home” should be used is in a patient’s apartment, house, etc. In this case you would use place of service code 12 for …
Outsourcing Your Billing for Chiropractic Services
Outsourcing Your Billing for Chiropractic Services You have a thriving Chiropractic practice. You have loyal patients who appreciate your services and recommend you to their associates and in turn your practice grows even larger. Soon, your in office staff is spending so much time answering phones and patient’s questions, you find your medical billing is being submitted later and later and your reimbursements are happening slower and slower. Worse, your staff is so busy sometimes they are not coding your medical billing properly, it’s not that they don’t know, it is just that they are so busy there isn’t time to keep up with the fast paced changes in the …
DME Pre-approval
DME Preapproval Durable Medical Equipment refers to wheel chairs, braces, shower chairs and other assisted living equipment are generally are purchased as an outpatient. It really does not matter if your patients are insured through Medicare, Medicaid, Workers’ Compensation or through a private insurance carrier, nearly all DME claims must be preapproved prior to submission of the medical billing claims. Many of these policies have strict guidelines that must be followed in order for the DME medical billing claim to be paid. Some providers will require that the DME be purchased through their own sources and have a listing of specified providers. Many HMOs are very narrow about the DME …
