Part B News | Part B News

2 definitions are key to new initial, subsequent visit guidelines

12/12/2022

Study the new CPT guidelines for initial and subsequent services before you code an inpatient, observation or nursing facility visit in 2023. The guidelines are based on the long-standing policy for new and established patients, explained Peter Hollman, M.D., co-chair of the AMA E/M workgroup, on Nov. 16, the first day of the 2023 CPT and RBRVS Symposium.

Unsafe handling: PHI disposed in the garbage leads to OCR resolution

12/12/2022

by: Dom Nicastro

Another resolution agreement gives medical groups a fresh HIPAA compliance lesson learned.

Co-surgery modifiers widely misused: OIG

12/12/2022

by: Part B News Staff

Medicare improperly paid physicians for co-surgery and assistant-at-surgery services that were billed without the appropriate payment modifiers, OIG says.

ACP codes return $142M for providers as billing climbs

12/12/2022

by: Richard Scott

Providers are increasingly likely to help patients navigate their advance directives and other pieces of the advance care planning (ACP) set of services, and reimbursement is climbing accordingly.\

Congress expected to reduce some, but not all, provider cuts

12/05/2022

by: Roy Edroso

With Congress working on its usual year-end fiscal legislation, experts think the 8.5% in pay cuts that providers face in 2023 will be pared back by year’s end — but they don’t expect a blanket pardon.

MDM in focus: CPT changes simplify complexity of problem addressed

12/05/2022

by: Julia Kyles, CPC

Look beyond the big shifts that are in store for level-based E/M services. The new CPT guidelines revised the number and complexity of problems addressed section and the changes apply to all level-based E/M visits. Peter Hollman, M.D., co-chair of the AMA E/M workgroup, dug into the details of the update on Nov. 16, the first day of the 2023 CPT and RBRVS Symposium.

Providers respond sharply to No Surprises RFI, but reforms may be limited

12/05/2022

by: Roy Edroso

Health care industry groups have responded forcefully to CMS’ and its fellow Departments’ request for information (RFI) on the No Surprises Act (NSA) rules, hoping the agency will ease off on some of the requirements that providers find most troublesome, as well as enforcement discretion that is scheduled to end on Jan. 1. But so far there have been no guarantees.

Give coders a chart, not a calculator to find new prolonged threshold times

12/05/2022

by: Julia Kyles, CPC

Question: We are trying to understand the time requirements for G0316, G0317 and G0318. We thought CMS added an extra 15 minutes to the threshold times listed in the new CPT guidelines.

Know how to report a hypertensive crisis in ICD-10-CM

12/05/2022

by: Savannah Schmidt

Question: What is a hypertensive crisis and how is it reported in ICD-10-CM?

With one exception, selected codes take big hit in 2023

12/05/2022

by: Roy Edroso

When Part B News looked at the “Impact on CY 2022 payment for selected procedures” that came with the physician fee schedule last year, there was not a single rate gainer among the 23 codes with non-facility rates. Flash forward to that list for 2023, and you’ll find that – with one significant exception – the situation is even worse.

Login

User Name:
Password:
Remember me Forgot password
Welcome to the new Part B News Online. If you are a returning user having trouble logging in, please click here.