Changes Coming to Office Visit Codes Question: At my family practice’ office visit code, my office manager and I have recently been debating over coding. She reports that the new coding system has changed our typical 99214 visits into 99213s. For example, I see a patient for routine follow-up on three or more chronic conditions. […]
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 […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that, beginning in January 2020, CMS will implement shorter and more frequent HCPCS Level II coding cycles for requests to modify the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) Level II code set. Under the updated procedures, stakeholders will be able to submit code applications on a quarterly basis […]
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 […]
Sometimes, the biggest dangers are the ones we don’t see. A hippo yawning might appear tranquil, but that yawn is actually a sign of aggression. A high-end sports utility vehicle could roll away while parked if it’s missing a single part. In physician practices, there are multiple billing pitfalls that threaten practice revenue. For every […]
Resolving credit balances can bring your organization out of the red and into the green. 6-Step Checklist to Recover Revenue Adjustments are correct Patient cost-sharing amounts are correct No duplicate payment postings Payments went to correct payers No charge entry errors Corrected claims are accounted for You may have encountered this situation: Your boss assigns […]
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 […]