New data shows practices bill more higher-level E/M codes

Why This Topic Matters

Understanding broad shifts in E/M utilization and denials helps practices compare their billing patterns against national trends and monitor documentation and coding behavior over time.

Article Sections

1. Claims trend overview

   Summarizes the overall change in billing patterns across established patient office/outpatient E/M services over the study period.

2. Utilization changes by service level

   Describes how utilization shares shifted among the E/M levels included in the analysis and notes the relative movement over time.

3. Possible reasons for the trend

   Discusses broad factors that may have contributed to the observed shift in coding patterns, including documentation practices and electronic record workflows.

4. Denial rate trends

   Reviews changes in denial rates for the higher-level services referenced in the article using CMS data.