Year: 2021

5 Things rev cycle leaders need to know about surprise billing interim final rule

5 Things rev cycle leaders need to know about surprise billing interim final rule

  Understanding the qualifying payment amount and the initial information on the independent dispute resolution process “should be a short-term priority for revenue cycle leaders and their teams,” says attorney Harvey Rochman. Earlier this month, the federal government released an interim final rule outlining certain provisions of the No Surprises Act (NSA), which is designed […]
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4 Reasons Why UnitedHealthcare’s Attempt To ‘Monday Morning Quarterback ED Claims Is ‘Bad Policy’

4 Reasons Why UnitedHealthcare’s Attempt To ‘Monday Morning Quarterback ED Claims Is ‘Bad Policy’

“It really undermines what the physicians are doing at the point of care, and it’s bad policy,” says Doug Wolfe, co-founder and partner of the Miami-based law firm Wolfe Pincavage. UnitedHealthcare’s attempt to “Monday morning quarterback” emergency room visits by retroactively denying emergency claims is not only likely a violation of the prudent layperson standard, […]
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Boost reimbursement through improved documentation

Boost reimbursement through improved documentation

Five tips to ensure better documentation and, along with it, better patient care and improved reimbursement. Providers and coders need a cooperative relationship, working toward a common goal of complete coding and positive reimbursement results, as supported by medical documentation. Here are five tips to ensure better documentation and, along with it, better patient care […]
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FY 2022 ICD-10-CM Codes Now Available

FY 2022 ICD-10-CM Codes Now Available

New codes are effective Oct. 1, 2021. Highly anticipated, the fiscal year 2022 ICD-10-CM codes have been released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), although still pending are the 2022 Official Coding and Reporting Guidelines which were not included in the package of new codes. We are still waiting for the release […]
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Pros, Cons of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Benefits

Pros, Cons of Non-Emergency Medical Transportation Benefits

MACPAC’s June 2021 report to Congress included findings about non-emergency medical transportation benefits in Medicaid programs that could prove useful for benefits design. A small fraction of the Medicaid population utilizes non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) benefits, but for that community of beneficiaries NEMT programs can be indispensable, a MACPAC report recently found. It has been […]
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Prolonged Services in CPT versus Medicare

Prolonged Services in CPT versus Medicare

The code 99417 is invalid for Medicare and MA reimbursement. When the CPT® Guidelines were updated for 2021, one of the options for leveling an office or other outpatient evaluation and management (E&M) service was to use time as the leveling agent. The time thresholds for each E&M office visit were also changed from “typical” […]
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CMS Updates Medicare Part B Drug Prices

CMS Updates Medicare Part B Drug Prices

Retroactive code pricing updates may require claims lookback. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has posted a retroactive update to the April Average Sales Price (ASP) pricing file for three Medicare Part B drugs. Also now available are the July ASP and Not Otherwise Classified (NOC) pricing files and the ASP NDC HCPCS […]
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CMS Releases PCS Codes Final Rule

Medical/Legal Impact of 2021 E&M Changes

Without detailed documentation, providers may face an uphill battle in defending themselves from quality audits and even malpractice issues. Up until 2021, at least for the prior two decades, coders and clinicians relied upon the established Evaluation and Management (E&M) guidelines to determine which E&M code was appropriate for each specific encounter. The 1995 guidelines […]
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