General Surgery Coding Alert - 2010 Issue 8
BILLING: Avoid These 2 Pitfalls When Trying to Maximize Income
Subscribe or sign in to view the full article.
Article Overview
This article addresses revenue-cycle and billing compliance issues for medical practices facing payment pressure. It focuses on two broad areas: patient billing practices such as statement fees and late-payment charges, and diagnosis reporting practices when multiple conditions appear in the record. The content is aimed at billers, coders, and practice administrators who want a high-level understanding of where billing policies and diagnosis selection issues can create risk.
Why This Topic Matters
Billing policy errors and diagnosis reporting mistakes can create compliance problems, payment delays, and avoidable revenue loss. Understanding the article’s scope helps practices evaluate whether its guidance is relevant to their collections processes and coding workflows.
Article Sections
-
Pitfall 1: Charging Medicare patients a statement fee
Discusses patient billing and collection practices in the context of Medicare and private payer policies. It covers broad considerations around late-payment charges, written financial policies, and collection alternatives.
-
Pitfall 2: Listing diagnoses that will get the claim paid
Addresses diagnosis reporting and chart-based coding when multiple conditions are documented. It also touches on general sequencing considerations for billing different types of services.
What You Will Learn
- How billing practices can affect collections and compliance
- What general issues arise when adding patient charges for overdue balances
- Why diagnosis reporting should align with the medical record
- How multiple documented diagnoses may be matched to billed services at a high level
- What kinds of billing and coding workflows are discussed in the article
Who Should Read This
- Medical billers
- Medical coders
- Practice administrators
- Revenue cycle staff
- Compliance staff
Subscribe or sign in to view the full article.


Quick, Current, Complete - www.findacode.com