Chiropractic Auditing Articles & Resources
CLICK HERE to learn more about our do-it-yourself chart audit tool.
HIPAA compliance information can be found here.
Medicare compliance information can be found here.
Click here for information on OIG Compliance Program.
For additional information visit ChiroCode.com. Since 1993 Chiropractors have depended on ChiroCode as a reliable source of information for the Chiropractic community. Because of the dependability and education, ChiroCode has earned much renown. View current and recent webinars, order the ChiroCode DeskBook, (comprehensive go-to chiropractic reimbursement manual) and much more.
Select the title to see a summary and a link to the full article. some articles require a subscription to view.
Sep 6th, 2023
When Is a Shared Visit Not a Shared Visit?
by David M. Glaser, Esq.
Can you do a “shared visit” in a physician clinic, site of service 11? The most common answer to this question seems to be “no,” and while that is technically correct, it is so misleading that it is effectively entirely wrong. To understand this confusion, we need to dig...
Jun 8th, 2023
UnitedHealthcare Updates Manipulation Policy
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
UnitedHealthcare has issued a notice that there is a new Manipulation Commercial Payer policy which will become effective on July 1, 2023. Learn about the changes to the “Coverage Rationale” portion of the policy.
by Stephanie Allard, CPC CEMA RHIT
When x-rays are audited on the same date as an E/M encounter we have one of three decisions to make about the work that went into the radiological exam when the practice owns x-ray equipment and does their own interpretations internally. First, we must determine whether the x-ray was...
Mar 14th, 2022
Medicare Auditors Caught Double-Dipping
by Edward Roche, PhD JD
Overlapping extrapolations require providers to pay twice. Some Medicare auditors have been caught “double-dipping,” the practice of sampling and extrapolating against the same set of claims. This is like getting two traffic tickets for a single instance of running a red light. This seedy practice doubles the amount...
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Audits are currently underway to verify the monies distributed through the CARES Act were warranted and properly used by those organizations that received them. The federal government has contracted with financial institutions such as KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers, among others, to perform these audits referred to as Provider Relief Fund (PRF) audit contractors, funded with monies from the very same program. There were four phases of funding disbursements with phase 1 audits beginning in September. How ready are you to be audited?
Jul 14th, 2020
Are NCCI Edits and Modifiers Just for Medicare?
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
The National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits were developed by CMS to help promote proper coding and control improper coding that leads to incorrect payments with part B claims. It is important to understand that NCCI edits do not include every possible code combination or every type of un-bundling combination. With that ...
Apr 15th, 2020
CMS Temporarily Suspends Contract-Level RADV Audits
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is suspending contract-level RADV audits, related to the payment year 2015 and will not initiate any new ones until after the public health emergency has ended. Any documentation already submitted will be reviewed as usual.
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Do you still find yourself searching the internet for an ICD10 code? Medical coders often type into their search engine, what is the ICD10 code for ... and a specific diagnosis code, to avoid repeatedly dragging out the incredibly large ICD10 codebook. Ironically, some of the most commonly searched ICD10 diagnoses include: ...
by NAMAS
Over the past few months, I have worked with different organizations that have been misinterpreting the "incident to" guidelines and, in return, have been billing for services rendered by staff that are not qualified to perform the services per AMA and CPT. What I found within the variances is that ...
Jun 17th, 2019
Extrapolation Policies Apply to RAD-V Audits
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Risk Adjustment is a program that was implemented to identify and support Medicare beneficiaries with health conditions, illnesses, or injuries that put them at risk of death or organ system/bodily function failure. Through Risk Adjustment (RA), Medicare ensures their beneficiaries are being followed at least annually for any healthcare conditions ...
Jun 14th, 2019
A United Approach
by NAMAS
A United Approach
As auditors, we all have a different perspective when evaluating documentation. It would be unreasonable to think that we all view things the same way. In my opinion, differing perspectives are what makes a great team because you can coalesce on a particular chart, work it through and ...
Jun 13th, 2019
What Medical Necessity Tools Does Find-A-Code Offer?
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Find-A-Code is a great resource for individuals working in all aspects of healthcare, from providers and ancillary staff to the attorneys and payers who assess and critique the documentation supporting the services performed. When recently asked what tools Find-A-Code has to help support medical necessity, our response was, "We provide many resources ...
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Question: Our Medicare contractor is auditing claims with 98942. Do you have any suggestions for a template for documentation to warrant the use of 98942?
Answer: When you submit a claim with code 98942 you are stating that you have determined that it was medically necessary to adjust all 5 of ...
Apr 23rd, 2019
Let's Talk High Risk E/M Services
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Have you ever assigned a high-complexity E/M code (e.g., 99205, 99215, 99223, 99233, 99245, etc.) and wondered if it would stand up to further scrutiny? Well, let’s take a closer look at the requirements for reporting high-level E/M services.
Both the American Medical Association and Medicare-published E/M Guidelines agree that a ...
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
We recently fielded the question, “What is medical necessity and how do I know if it's been met?"
The AMA defines medical necessity as:
It is important to understand that while the AMA provides general guidance on what they consider medically necessary services, these particular coding guidelines are generic and may be ...
Apr 8th, 2019
Prepayment Review Battle Plan
by Wyn Staheli, Director of Content - innoviHealth
Any type of payer review can create some headaches for providers and cause problems for a healthcare office. Even for a practice that has taken administrative steps to try and prevent a prepayment review, it can still happen. A prepayment review means that you must include documentation WITH your claim. ...
Mar 21st, 2019
The Impact of Medical Necessity on High Level E/M Services
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
I was recently asked the question, "Does 99233 require documentation of a past medical, family, and/or social history (PFSH)?"
The quick answer is, "it depends."
Code 99233 has the following minimal component requirement:
Subsequent inpatient E/M encounters can meet the code level requirement either by component scoring & medical necessity or time & medical necessity. ...
Mar 1st, 2019
Understanding NCCI Edits
by Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT
Medicare creates and maintains the National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits and NCCI Policy Manual, which identify code pair edits. When performed on the same patient, on the same day, and by the same provider, the secondary code is considered an integral part of the primary code, and payment for ...
Feb 12th, 2019
Coding Medicare Initial Preventive Physical Exams (IPPE)
by Aubrie Rowley
The Medicare Initial Preventive Physical Exam (IPPE), also commonly referred to as the “Welcome to Medicare Physical”, may seem daunting to many, but when broken out to identify the requirements is fairly straightforward.
Purpose
An IPPE helps the Medicare beneficiary (the patient) get to know their healthcare provider at a time when they ...
Feb 5th, 2019
Clinical Staff vs. Healthcare Professional
by Christine Woolstenhulme, QMC QCC CMCS CPC CMRS
State scope of practice laws and regulations will help determine who is considered Clinical staff and Other qualified Health Care professionals.
Physician or other qualified healthcare professionals: Must have a State license, education training showing qualifications as well as facility privileges.
Examples of Qualified Healthcare professionals:
(NOTE: this list is not all-inclusive, please refer to your payer ...
There are 4 related documentation, coding and billing tips.
Select the title to see a summary and a link to the full webinar information. some webinars require a subscription to view.
Feb 14th, 2023
Use the Right Modifiers for Chiropractic Billing
by Evan M. Gwilliam, DC MBA CPC CCPC CPC-I QCC MCS-P CPMA CMHP AAPC Fellow
Do you really know when to use the 59 modifier? What about the AT? There are relatively few modifiers to consider when it comes to chiropractic billing and coding, but some payers have their own rules and it can be tricky to know when to use one modifier and not another. In this exciting webinar, Dr. Evan Gwilliam, a certified coder, will clear up all the questions you have about the modifiers you need to consider.Jan 25th, 2023
Medical Necessity: it’s far easier to prove than you think, and far more important than you realize.
by Tom Grant DC, Med-Legal Consultant, Pragma Intel Director of Education
Besides coding errors, it’s the 2nd most common tool used by health insurers and 3rd party payers to deny care and deny liability. How do you decide what to use as a tool to prove your care is viable and needed? Expensive equipment and elaborate testing procedures are not what you need. It’s as simple to prove as opening a can of beans, unless you don’t have a can opener. I’ll share with you my insider tips and experience as a medical expert on over 3000 successful PI case settlements and give the can opener that you and your patients need you to use to prove medical necessity, and why you’ll need it in treating what I feel is the next great opportunity for Chiropractic: V_______ care.Aug 16th, 2022
Medicare and the ABN for Chiropractic
by Evan M. Gwilliam, DC MBA CPC CCPC CPC-I QCC MCS-P CPMA CMHP AAPC Fellow
Medicare can be intimidating, but fortunately, the rules can be made simple and actually reduce anxiety when applied properly. All you need to know about ABNs and Medicare modifiers will all be covered in this presentation so that you can feel confident you know you are doing things right.by Evan M. Gwilliam, DC MBA CPC CCPC CPC-I QCC MCS-P CPMA CMHP AAPC Fellow
Anyone who sees patients who have services that are not covered by insurance needs to know about the No Surprises Act. In this quick webinar, Dr. Gwilliam will show you how to properly notify patients of their options and create a Good Faith Estimate, as required by this law. Expect this…Feb 8th, 2022
Medicare Audit, Do-it-yourself
by Evan M. Gwilliam, DC MBA CPC CCPC CPC-I QCC MCS-P CPMA CMHP AAPC Fellow
Don't wait for Medicare to look over your records and try to find deficiencies. Dr. Gwilliam, a Certified Professional Medical Auditor, will show you how to find your own deficiencies, and fix them before they become a compliance or financial concern. This isn't just for Medicare either. If you can…Jan 11th, 2022
Chiropractic Documentation: The Subjective Element
by Ron Short, DC MCS-P CPC
The Subjective element of S.O.A.P. is where we document what the patient tells us. But what is the best way to gather this information? In this webinar Dr. Ron Short will review the guidelines for the subjective element and explain the best way to gather information from the patient.&…by Ron Short, DC MCS-P CPC
We have all heard of the S.O.A.P. format for our documentation. But what does each element mean and what additional information do we need in our documentation? In this webinar Dr. Ron Short will review the S.O.A.P. documentation format and discuss what additional information you need document. In…by Evan M. Gwilliam, DC MBA CPC CCPC CPC-I QCC MCS-P CPMA CMHP AAPC Fellow
The most commonly used procedure in chiropractic is the chiropractic adjustment, also known as chiropractic manipulative treatment or CMT. There are nuances to the CPT and ICD-10 codes and Medicare guidelines that must be mastered by any chiropractor hoping to find success when creating their…Jul 8th, 2021
Chiropractic Treatment Paradigm 2021
by Ron Short, DC MCS-P CPC
Chiropractic care is different from medical care. We know that but how do we explain it. Reviewers deny claims that are medically necessary because they don’t know what they are looking at when they review our claims. Dr. Ron Short will explain how to approach these reviewers in this…by Brandy Brimhall, CPC CMCO CPCO CCCPC CPMA QCC
August 18, 2020 Join this webinar for a birds-eye review of crucial components of your practice revenue cycle system. Inefficient or unattended revenue cycle systems result in a tremendous loss of time and money for practices. So often, that additional cash flow that practices are seeking, are…Apr 12th, 2018
Evaluation and Management Coding and Auditing
by Find-A-Code™
Are you responsible for selecting or reviewing Evaluation and Management service levels? Do you wonder how well you know the rules and how to apply them? Join Aimee in this webinar to review and then applly the rules of E/M coding. She will also do a live demonstration of the new Find-A-Code E/M Calculator Tool to assess the level of E/M service for two office visits, one new (99201-99205) and the other established (99212-99215).Feb 2nd, 2017
How to Check NCCI Edits Using FindACode
by Find-A-Code™
How to Check NCCI Edits Using FindACodeOct 4th, 2016
ICD-10-CM Updates for the Auditor, a NAMAS webinar
by Find-A-Code™
ICD-10-CM Updates for the Auditor, a NAMAS webinarLinks and resources by topic.
Auditing
Compliance
E+M Documentation and Coding
Fraud
HIPAA
Medicaid
Medicare
Procedure Coding
Reimbursement
suggest a resource
If you know of a resource that should be included here (links, data, etc.) please contact us.
Thank you for choosing Find-A-Code, please Sign In to remove ads.
Quick, Current, Complete - www.findacode.com