Medical Billing Blog with Medical Billing & Coding Info & Articles
Our blog contains news and articles relating to numerous healthcare sectors including revenue cycle management, medical billing, medical coding, ICD, HIPAA, practice management functions and more.
EMR Documentation Issues During the COVID-19 Pandemic
Physician News posted a great article discussing EMR documentation issues during the pandemic. As hospitals are overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients and staff are stretched to their limits, electronic medical record (EMR) documentation may suffer as a result of rushed, less detailed and error-prone entries. EMR workarounds are also expected to flourish. In the current medical malpractice climate where greater scrutiny can be placed on the EMR and audit trail over the medicine itself, it is very important to maintain an accurate chart. There are steps that can be taken now to prepare for anticipated documentation issues related to care rendered during the COVID-19 pandemic. The most important recommendation is to …
97% of Physician Practices have been Financially Affected by COVID-19
According to Medscape, a recent survey shows that almost half of medical practices are having to furlough Staff, and 1 in 5 have had to layoff staff due to the financial strain of COVID-19. “Clinicians all over the country already likely know this, but a survey by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) makes it official: 97% of physician practices have experienced negative financial effects directly or indirectly related to COVID-19. The survey, which was conducted April 7 – 8, also shows that 55% of practices have seen a decrease in revenue, and 60% have experienced a decline in patient volume since the beginning of the COVID-19 crisis. A significant …
Five ways interoperability plays a role in addressing the coronavirus epidemic
HealthIT Answers has an article outlining five ways data interoperability can play a pivotal role in addressing the epidemic… “Even as capacity restrictions force organizations to work without barriers—via drive-thru screenings, make-shift tents or by way of telehealth—real-time access to data can help streamline care management, whether fast tracking admissions or empowering patients at home through online portals. Here are five ways data interoperability can play a pivotal role in addressing the epidemic: Coordination of Care: COVID-19 provides a sobering reminder of just how much a fully integrated, scalable and interoperable healthcare infrastructure is needed. Coordination among first responders, public health officials, labs, acute, and post-acute facilities will be critical …
CMS adds 85 more Medicare telehealth services and codes
Becker’s Hospital Review posted that CMS issued various regulatory changes on March 30 to further support hospitals’, physicians’ and other healthcare organizations’ capabilities during the COVID-19 pandemic, including expanding Medicare coverage of telehealth visits. On March 17, the Trump administration announced CMS will temporarily pay clinicians to provide telehealth services for beneficiaries during the pandemic. CMS is now expanding Medicare coverage of 85 additional services provided via telehealth, including emergency department visits and initial nursing facility and discharge visits. Here are the 85 additional services, and their respective codes, that CMS will cover when provided via telehealth through the duration of the pandemic: 1. 77427: radiation management 2. 90853: group …
COVID-19 and the Science of Social Distancing
Medscape published great article discussing the science behind social distancing and the NPI guidelines. “Social distancing and other non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) have proven to be effective tools in most pandemics. But their effect on the spread of the novel coronavirus is not yet clear, experts say. The goal of NPIs — which include personal actions, such as staying at home when sick and washing hands, and communal ones, including school closures and canceling mass gatherings — is to flatten the height of the infection curve and build herd immunity, thus buying time to increase hospital capacity and to come up with drugs or vaccines to treat the illness. State …
Tips for Running Your Medical Practice during the Coronavirus Crisis
“At one large practice in Bergen County, New Jersey, the waiting room is empty — but its patients are still receiving care. As of mid-March, the practice is still operating, thanks to the group’s willingness to adapt its work flow, sometimes radically, to mitigate the threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. For example, patients now call the receptionist from their vehicles when they arrive, and wait there until receiving a call back telling them the clinician is ready. The practice has also started using telemedicine for the first time, to the extent it can be adopted in a hurry, and some clinicians are working from home on tasks such as medication …
7 things to consider when billing and coding for Coronavirus
Becker’s Hospital Review shows us 7 things to consider when billing and coding for Coronavirus… 1. CMS developed Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System code U0001 to allow laboratories and healthcare providers to bill for using the CDC’s RT-PCR Diagnostic Test Panel. Healthcare organizations should use HCPCS code U0002 to bill for validated, in-house developed COVID-19 diagnostic tests, according to CMS. 2. Beginning April 1, laboratories and healthcare providers can bill Medicare and other health insurers using codes U0001 and U0002 for services provided on or after Feb. 4. 3. Local Medicare Administrative Contractors will develop the payment amount for claims received for codes U0001 and U0002 in their respective …
5 Common Reasons for Medical Claim Denials
“When a patient’s insurance claim is denied, not only can your cash flow be affected, the relationship with your patient can be damaged as well. Some claim denials can be successfully appealed, but even when appeals succeed, they can temporarily leave claim status up in the air – something both your practice and your patient would like to avoid. Understanding common reasons for claim denials is key to preventing them. The insurers your practice works with may offer software tools to help you prevent claim rejections (which are claims that aren’t processed due to clerical errors) and claim denials (where claims are considered, but payment is denied) so it’s important …
HHS Finalizes Strategies to Combat EHR Clinician Burden
“Divisions of HHS worked together to develop strategies for addressing the four main causes of clinician burden stemming from EHR use. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a set of strategies, Strategy on Reducing Regulatory and Administrative Burden Relating to the Use of Health IT and EHRs, aimed at combating health IT-related burdens on healthcare providers. The report fulfills a provision in the 21st Century Cures Act requiring HHS, the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to produce a report for Congress on the strategies and recommendations to aid this overwhelming epidemic. Clinician burden is primarily linked to …
What does a study of medical coders reveal about Artificial Intelligence?
“Greater attention to human factors and new techniques may change the way artificial intelligence is trained with small data, according to an article published by Harvard Business Review. Researchers from Accenture wanted to see if opportunities lay within smaller data sets that go unused by organizations. For their study, the researchers focused on annotations added to medical charts by medical coders. With their tens of annotations on each of several thousand charts, the annotations are much smaller compared to data sets with a billion columns and rows. In the experiment, the coders studied RNs who regularly used AI in their coding processes to link medical conditions with proper codes. The …
