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July 1 E/M webinar: Stop E/M undercoding and documentation mistakes

06/30/2014

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) identified undercoding as a major problem in physician practices in its latest report. Undercoding not only puts you at risk for audits but means you miss out on revenue your practice deserves. Join our health care expert July 1 for detailed guidance to ensure you're not leaving thousands of dollars on the table through improper E/M undercoding. Click here to learn more.

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Watch for new bundles for skin lesion, imaging and stent placement codes

06/30/2014

by: Laura Evans

Take care when reporting lesion destruction codes with other skin procedures because the latest quarterly update to the National Correct Coding Initiative (CCI), effective July 1, includes a number of new code pairs involving those codes.

How to make good legally on spoiled visits to increase patient satisfaction

06/30/2014

by: Roy Edroso

Solve big customer service headaches by offering to cover the patient’s bill — but do it carefully to comply with Medicare regulations.

New modifier 59 guidance suggests crackdown, offers clues to beat it

06/30/2014

by: Roy Edroso

Look to new CMS examples of appropriate use of modifier 59 (Distinct procedural service) to withstand likely scrutiny.

Payers, practices pressed to find savings look to reduce administrative costs

06/30/2014

by: Scott Kraft

Physician practices and insurers are focusing on ways to control administrative costs as doctors’ reimbursement stagnates and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires insurance plans to spend at least 80% of premium dollars on the costs of care.

Plan to fingerprint high-risk Medicare enrollees could impact practices

06/30/2014

by: Scott Kraft

The recent announcement that Medicare would begin to fingerprint new enrollees defined as high risk — at their own expense — for background checks has the potential to implicate some physician practices, even though physician groups generally are not considered high risk.

Modifier 50 causes problems with bundled services in 2012

06/30/2014

by: Roy Edroso

Be careful of bundled codes when trying to use modifier 50 (Bilateral services) or risk costly edits. Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) Palmetto recently gave a heads-up on modifier use with bilateral procedures, reminding providers that the modifier cannot be used with codes that are “inherently bilateral by their description.”

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