On Jan. 14, coders and billers gained insight into proper use of novel HCPCS Level II modifier FT Unrelated evaluation and management (e/m) visit during a postoperative period, or on the same day as a procedure or another e/m visit. (report when an e/m visit is furnished within the global period but is unrelated, or […]
MDM elements during a preventive visit Q: Is it appropriate to count laboratory tests and other tests ordered during a preventive medicine service (99381-99397) visit in medical decision making (MDM) selection? No, because the 2021 revisions to the E/M office or other outpatient MDM do not apply to codes 99381-99397 (preventive services). These codes are […]
As part of its ongoing mission to improve the health of America, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association (BCBSA) announced its National Health Equity Strategy in April 2021 to confront the nation’s crisis in racial health disparities. This strategy is intended to change the trajectory of health disparities and reimagine a more equitable health care […]
DOJ lawsuits may be your road map to risk adjustment compliance. The growing prevalence of risk adjustment in healthcare has forged new processes in documentation practices that have resulted in many organizations adopting practices that bend the cast iron rules for ICD-10-CM coding. We are starting to see some of the long-term dangers of ambitiously […]
A solid understanding of guidelines and COVID-19-related complexities will limit claim denials and audits. Deciphering documentation to determine what qualifies as critical care services can be challenging for medical coders and auditors. With limited critical care codes available for assignment, reporting may appear relatively straightforward at first glance. However, there are many considerations that coders […]
The package includes three ICD-10-CM and seven procedure codes. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have both stated that in April 2022, we will have three new ICD-10-CM codes and seven new procedure codes for COVID-19 therapeutics and vaccines. You may recall that in […]
Take 5 to read up on recent coding and billing news. There are plenty of coding updates in November, including those made to certain Medicare policies. Payment thresholds for physical, occupational, and speech-language pathology are also posted for the 2022 calendar year, as are Medicare cost sharing amounts. And HCPCS Level II code set updates […]
End the sequela struggle for when to include a 7th character with this primer. ICD-10-CM codes aren’t just for coding; they’re also used for payments, statistics, and other health information management activities. Therefore, some codes are designed to meet certain episode of care requirements that translate into costs. For example, a code describing an acute […]
The CPT® 2022 edition incorporates a total of 249 novel codes, along with 93 codes that have been revised, and 63 codes that have been removed. Every segment of the CPT® code set has undergone modifications to codes and guidelines. The most substantial revisions are observed in evaluation and management (E/M) codes, spine-related procedures such […]
CMS has been incrementally expanding coverage for remote patient monitoring since first recognizing the platform in 2019. Through RPM, healthcare providers can use digital health tools and telehealth platforms to improve care management for patients at home, especially those with chronic conditions or who’ve been recently discharged from a hospital. The platform has the […]










