Telehealth policies will lapse if something isn’t done quickly, as the PHE is scheduled to end on July 21. As lawmakers are lining up to decide what Medicare will pay for after the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) is over, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) has plans […]
Increasing provider utilization in remote patient monitoring starts with effective backend processes and leaning into technologies that they already trust. Remote patient monitoring (RPM) took off during the coronavirus pandemic, but the industry will have to take decisive steps in order to build on that momentum, according to Eric Wicklund, senior editor of mHealthIntelligence. Remote […]
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” […]
Part IV in this series discusses expanding HIM’s visibility and enhancing organizational processes via authorization denial management. In my prior article, I discussed the value of payer policy management, and mentioned that “no authorization” denials represent 10-15 percent of all denials. This focused denial category presents another opportunity for health information management (HIM) professionals. HIM […]
Implement periodic external audits to ensure your claims are accurate and will hold up to payer scrutiny. The year 2020 was unequivocally the year of healthcare changes. We had multiple ICD-10-CM, CPT®, and payer coding guideline changes associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. We had the new American Medical Association (AMA) and Centers for Medicare […]
Miscoding and fraudulent billing can destroy a medical practice. Use these tips to get robust oversight of your medical billing and coding in place. The work billers and coders do for a medical practice plays a large role in its survival. Coders and billers are tasked with translating the care delivered by medical professionals into […]
Physicians are asking for adequate reimbursement for all COVID-19 vaccines and their administration, according to a new policy statement from the American College of Physicians (ACP). The statement released on Jan. 12 calls on health policymakers to require insurers to “provide adequate reimbursement for all vaccines, including COVID-19 vaccines, administered according to” scientific guidelines established by the […]
Some updates to the evaluation/management codes on the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule will provide greater reimbursement to physicians and allow them to spend more time with patients, CMS and medical societies said. According to CMS, the code sets that it is finalizing will increase the value of certain services. These include: cognitive impairment assessment and care […]
New procedure codes do not impact the MS-DRG assignment. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released 21 new ICD-10-PCS codes that apply to the vaccination or treatment of COVID-19. These codes are effective January 1, 2021. The procedure codes introduce six specific medications that can be used for treatment of COVID-19. The drugs […]
Physicians can now offer more services via telehealth and get paid. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is adding 11 codes to the list of telehealth services payable under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS). Coverage is retroactive to March 1, 2020, and is effective for the duration of the public health emergency (PHE) for […]