Medical Coding and Billing Articles
by Find-A-Code and friends
Subscribe to Find-A-Code's Newsletter
Receive a free email newsletter that includes coding tips, industry news, articles, and information about Find-A-Code updates, improvements and new products.
Subscribe Todayrecent articles
Select the title to see a summary and a link to the full article. some articles require a subscription to view.
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
The Evaluation and Management (E/M) changes made in 2021 and again in 2023 brought about new CPT codes and guidelines for reporting prolonged services. Just as Medicare disagreed with CPT in the manner in which prolonged service times should be calculated, they did so again with the new 2023 changes. Here are three things you should know when reporting prolonged services for all E/M services.
Jan 26th, 2023
Relative Value Units (RVUs) the Easy Way, Really?
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
The Medicare Physician fee schedule was implemented in 1992 using a relative Value scale methodology called RVUs to base payment rates on the resources used to perform the service. This is currently how the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) is set. But beware, there may be an industry-wide change to a Value-Based Payment. We will save that for another time; this article will focus on how the RVUs are calculated and Medicare Fee schedules.
by Jessica Hocker, CPC, CPB, CRC
GERD is a common condition where stomach acid flows back into the esophagus, causing symptoms like heartburn. It is treated with lifestyle changes, medication and surgery. Proper documentation is important for accurate coding and treatment. Providers should stay up-to-date with coding and billing policies.
Jan 10th, 2023
E/M Transformations and Clarifications Eff January, 1 2023
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
Pay close attention to the new code description changes when coding E/M in 2023, the changes keep coming. Several codes have been consolidated, revised, or deleted. Learn what to look for in this article.
Jan 3rd, 2023
2023 Procedure Coding Updates Are Just Weeks Away
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Even with such a low number of code changes headed our way in 2023, the talk is all about Evaluation and Management (E/M) and speculation about whether our facilities will be able to meet the challenges associated with such a big change. In 2021, when the initial round of E/M changes were announced, they were backed up with a couple of years to prepare for implementation but for facility, it was just months.
Dec 27th, 2022
Compliance Billing: Power Mobility Devices
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
In May of 2022, the OIG conducted a nationwide audit of Power Mobility Device (PMD) repairs for Medicare beneficiaries. The findings were not favorable; the audit revealed CMS paid 20% of durable medical suppliers incorrectly during the audit period of October 01, 2018- September 30, 2019. This was a total of $8 million in device repairs out of $40 million paid by CMS. We gathered information in this article to assist providers and suppliers in keeping the payments received, protecting beneficiaries, and assisting you in ensuring compliance.
by Kem Tolliver, CMPE, CPC, CMOM
Diagnosis code usage is a major component of optimizing HCCs to improve overall healthcare. Readers will gain insight into how accurate diagnosis code usage and selection impacts reimbursement and overall healthcare.
Dec 20th, 2022
Accurately Reporting Diabetic Medication Use in 2023
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Along with the ICD-10-CM coding updates, effective as of October 1st, the guidelines were also updated to provide additional information on reporting diabetic medications in both the general diabetic population and pregnant diabetics. Accurate reporting is vital to ensure not only maximum funding for risk adjusted health plans, but also to ensure medical necessity for the services provided to this patient population.
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
Updated Article - REMINDER! This is important news for durable medical suppliers! Effective January 1, 2023, CMS is discontinuing the use of Certificates of Medical Necessity (CMNs) and DME information forms (DIFs). We knew this was coming as the MLN sent out an article on May 23, 2022, but it is time to make sure your staff knows about these changes.
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
The benefits of computer-assisted-coding (CAC) are great and understanding how to engage with the engine to ensure maximum coding efficiency is vital to the program's success for your organization. But how do you know when to accept an autosuggested code and when to ignore it, especially when it has to do with historical patient data?
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Each year coding updates are published and more often than not, there can be anywhere from a few hundred to over a thousand new, revised, or deleted codes changes. Coders who take the time to review all of the changes instead of just those pertinent to their organization will accumulate knowledge and experience that helps them stand out in the coding industry as experts.
Nov 22nd, 2022
Fatten Up Your BMI Coding Skills
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Accurately reporting body mass index (BMI) codes has become important with many of the payers reimbursing provider organizations up to ten dollars per chart for reporting 3008F with a documented BMI code. However, as is almost always the case, it isn't a simple scenario of collecting, documenting, and reporting the patient's BMI but rather hitting the mark on all of the criteria that goes along with it and understanding how to identify morbid obesity based on coding guidelines in the ICD-10-CM code set and specific payer policies.
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
This will be the third time since 2021 that the diagnosis complexity definitions have undergone significant changes. The initial 2021 changes were specific to Office and Other Outpatient E/M services and due to some confusion surrounding a few of the guidelines, updates to them were published by the AMA in April of 2021 with an effective date of January 1st. Because the 2023 E/M changes are more focused on the remaining E/M categories, especially in the hospital facility, new definitions were added and old definitions changed.
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
On January 1, 2023 the Evaluation and Management (E/M) Guidelines will change again but this time with a focus on all other E/M categories. These changes are very similar to the changes that took place in 2021, with scoring of the E/M service level being determined by MDM or time. The original 2021 E/M diagnosis severity definitions changed again, after implementation and with the new changes in 2023, new diagnosis definitions have been added, warranting another look at what is new and how to interpret the changes.
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
The 2023 Evaluation and Management changes have been published and efforts are ongoing to educate coders and provider organizations on the guideline and code description changes that will impact professional coding in the facility setting. These changes required a significant revision to the guidelines and definitions of the various levels of complexity associated with the Number and Complexity of "Problems Addressed" during an encounter, which is the first element of medical decision making (MDM) and the following explanations and examples should provide a greater understanding of the changes headed our way in January.
Nov 1st, 2022
Modifier FT
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
As of January 1, 2022, CMS created a new modifier for an unrelated E/M visit during a postoperative period. It was revised as of April 1, 2022. Learn more about the appropriate use of modifier FT.
Oct 31st, 2022
CMS Updates COVID Vaccine Requirements for Staff
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
CMS is revising its guidance and survey procedures for all provider types related to assessing and maintaining compliance with the staff vaccination regulatory requirements. This new memorandum replaces memoranda QSO 22-07-ALL Revised, QSO 22-09-ALL Revised, and QSO 22-11-ALL Revised.
by CMS - MLNConnects
Skilled Nursing Facility Provider Preview Reports: Review by November 14 - Help Your Patients Make Informed Health Care Decisions - Ambulance Fee Schedule: CY 2023 Ambulance Inflation Factor & Productivity Adjustment - Compliance - Implanted Spinal Neurostimulators: Document Medical Records - Claims, Pricers, & Codes...
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Providers who actively engage in collecting and reporting social determinants of health (SDoH) open avenues of identifying and treating their patients' population health trends. Pairing chronic conditions that are difficult to control with identified SDoH circumstances such as transportation or electricity insecurity, can help identify those patients who may wish to be healthier, but who are dealing with circumstances that prevent compliance, such as transportation or access to electricity, for instance.
Oct 24th, 2022
2023 Evaluation & Management Updates Free Webinar
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Congratulations on a successful 2021 implementation of the Evaluation and Management (E/M) changes! That was a big change, but now an even bigger change is headed your way for inpatient and all other E/M categories. How great is it that almost all of the E/M categories will now be scored based on medical decision making (MDM) or total provider time? Standardized scoring and one set of E/M guidelines has the potential of bringing about a change or improvement of provider fatigue due to over regulation and documentation burden.
articles by month
article requests
If you would like a specific article written on a medical coding and billing topic, please contact us.
contact
innoviHealth Systems, Inc.62 East 300 North
Spanish Fork, UT 84660
Phone: 801-770-4203 (8-5 Mountain)
Email:
Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.
Quick, Current, Complete - www.findacode.com