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Patient’s not trying to quit? Then you should pivot away from ‘smoking cessation’

01/13/2020

Question: Our doctor saw a patient who complained about his tobacco use but did not clearly express — at least so far as the notes show — a desire to quit. Can we infer from his bringing the subject up that he was asking for cessation help and bill 99406 (Smoking and tobacco use cessation counseling visit; intermediate, greater than 3 minutes up to 10 minutes)?

Payments tied to advance care planning codes 99497, 99498 enjoy three-year climb

01/13/2020

by: Jim Dresbach

The time-based codes for advance care planning (ACP), 99497 and 99498, that debuted in 2016 have witnessed strong utilization and payment increases over the past three years.

Single payer will stall, E/M changes will stay on track, ransomware will proliferate

01/06/2020

by: Part B News Staff

Part B News editors surveyed readers and interviewed experts to come up with 11 predictions of what will affect physician practices in 2020.

PBN’s 2019 predictions: Hit on M&A and MIPS, missed on E/M codes, Obamacare

01/06/2020

by: Part B News Staff

Part B News staff holds ourselves accountable for our predictions every year by sharing with our readers how we fared with last year’s predictions. Here are 2019’s results.

Practices express desire to use new CCM codes, while virtual visits remain untapped

01/06/2020

by: Richard Scott

Many providers anticipate seizing the new chronic care management (CCM) add-on code that’s debuting Jan. 1, 2020, but far fewer plan to dive into the virtual realm of tech-backed E/M services in the new year.

X marks the spot: Find 5 scenarios ripe for X modifier use as CCI updates guidance

12/30/2019

by: Jim Dresbach

The latest edition of the National Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) Policy Manual features multiple examples of how to correctly report the series of X modifiers – XE, XS, XP and XU – that CMS debuted several years ago.

AI comes to medical transcription, offering accuracy and ease-of-use advantages

12/30/2019

by: Roy Edroso

The arrival of a new machine learning-enabled medical transcription service from a division of online retail giant Amazon is further evidence of the growth of that market — and the reasonable rates for the service might appeal to even small practices.

Adopt 7 tips to handle copayment waivers without getting into trouble

12/30/2019

by: Marla Durben Hirsch

Although Medicare prohibits routine waivers of patient copayments, practices can waive a copayment when a patient has a financial hardship or the practice determines the copayment is uncollectible.

Only charge hospice patients for non-end-of-life issues — unless you’re the attending

12/30/2019

by: Roy Edroso

Question: A patient was brought into our practice by her family for treatment of a sprained ankle. We were told she is currently receiving the Part A hospice benefit. Do I need to contact the patient’s hospice provider, interdisciplinary group (IDG) or anyone else for billing purposes? Do I need to add anything to the billing?

Even without being required, X modifier use is on the upswing

12/30/2019

by: Roy Edroso

Despite CMS’ dithering, X modifiers seem to have picked up some slack from modifier 59 (Distinct procedural service) since being introduced in 2015.

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