Benchmarking: How Would Your 99285 Coding Stand up in An Audit?

Why This Topic Matters

Understanding peer billing benchmarks can help emergency department organizations assess whether their coding patterns differ from broader Medicare trends and identify areas that may warrant internal review.

Article Sections

1. Background and purpose of the Comparative Billing Report

   Introduces the Medicare report, why it was created, and the broader billing trend topics it was intended to analyze. It also explains the general role of comparative billing data in reviewing emergency medicine claims.

2. Findings from the report and webinar

   Summarizes the types of benchmark data discussed in the report and webinar, including state-level variation and the categories of claim characteristics examined. The section also notes that practice differences may reflect a variety of broad factors.

3. Documentation considerations for high-level ED E/M reporting

   Reviews the general documentation elements associated with higher-level emergency department evaluation and management reporting. It also discusses the special documentation circumstance highlighted for emergency department history collection.

4. Resource

   Provides a reference link for readers who want to view the underlying comparative billing report and related materials.