The American Medical Association (AMA) publishes the Current Procedural Terminology code set changes every year, usually in September, for the upcoming new year. The changes impacting CPT 2020 were released on September 4, 2019. There was a total of 394 CPT code changes, of which, 58 affect the surgery center market. 2020 CPT Code Changes […]
Emergency release of the new EVALI code by CDC. On Dec. 9, 2019, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) published additional guidance regarding e-cigarette/vaping associated lung injury (EVALI Code). The new code is U07.0 (Vaping-related disorder). The CDC consulted with the World Health Organization (WHO) regarding an addition to the classification that would […]
Improving the customer experience is no longer an idea that’s relegated to the retail or hospitality industries. Now, the idea has gained traction across many industries, including healthcare. For health plans, improving the customer experience and providing member-centric care helps drive member acquisition and retention and improve reimbursement (via a better STARS rating). With so […]
Since there are huge CPT coding updates for 2020, there are no new anesthesia codes. The newly proposed rule only includes new and revised codes for a few certain pain procedures. The rule provided for lowering of relative value units (RVU) for certain nerve injections codes which pay less in 2020. Some of the New […]
Guidance for using out-of-office BPs is not new. Medical evidence and clinical guidelines published over the last decade have showcased the importance of 24-hour ambulatory monitoring as the reference standard, and self-measured blood pressure monitoring (SMBP) as an acceptable alternative for obtaining BPs to diagnose and treat hypertension. And thanks to that abundance of research […]
The implementation of artificial intelligence into healthcare is becoming more widespread by the day. EHRs may have worked to improve data use among medical providers, but these tools are still far from perfect. Digital medical records have introduced a host of problems, including disrupting clinician workflows, limited interoperability, and creating data overload. But with the […]
Upcoming changes to the CPT code set include updates to radiology and medicine sections, effective for claims submitted on or after January 1. Radiology Updates Several radiology codes have been revised, added, or deleted: Revised Radiology Codes: 74022, 74210, 74220, 74230, 74240, 74246, 74250, 74270, 74280 New Radiology Codes: 74221 – Esophagus radiologic exam, double-contrast […]
Sound accounts receivable (A/R) management is integral to the financial health of a medical practice. The ability to maximize collections and profitability depends on it. Thus, it’s important that practices know what processes they can implement to ensure a smooth-running AR operation. David Norris, MD, MBA, an anesthesiologist in Wichita, Kan. and author of The […]
First hand experiences from the country’s most innovative revenue cycles will be shared next month in West Palm Beach, Florida. What issues keep revenue cycle executives up at night? As the HealthLeaders’ revenue cycle editor, I will moderate discussions and hear firsthand experiences of successes, challenges, and the latest ideas coming out of the country’s most innovative […]
HCCs thrive on specificity and ICD-11 will provide a higher level of specificity than in ICD-10. For those of you who are HCC coding for hierarchical condition category (HCC) purposes, you know that HCCs are categories of related ICD-10 codes. Only selected significant conditions to drive a payment HCC coding. That means only conditions that […]










