Ambulance service billing involves a host of unique compliance challenges. The ambulance industry has seen a significant number of false claim cases, fraud investigations, Medicare audit activity, and other types of billing-related cases. It is imperative that billers fully understand the nuances of ambulance reimbursement to be able to successfully sidestep these landmines. The following […]
Osteoporosis is a bone disease that involves abnormal loss of bony tissue resulting in fragile or porous bones. Without appropriate treatment, osteoporosis can worsen. As bones get weaker and thinner, the potential risk for fractures increases. Documentation is very important and physicians must ensure timely medical documentation to ensure appropriate treatment for these patients. Medical […]
As we all know, in the current age of the internet, having a website for your practice is a must. But if your website is not properly optimized then you would fall behind the competition. SEO stands for ‘search engine optimization. It is the process of getting organic traffic from search engines. In other words, […]
Patient no-show is a recurring problem for any medical practice or healthcare facility. As per the recent study, no-show rates in an outpatient setting can range between 22 percent and 35 percent, resulting in a loss of 15 percent of anticipated daily revenue. In terms of dollars, patient no-show can cost individual physicians as much […]
Patients perceive long waiting times as a barrier to obtain medical services. Keeping patients waiting can be a cause of stress for both patient and doctor. Even though the long patient wait time is not a good thing but activities like Secretary verifying insurance information or Medical Assistant preparing an exam room takes a lot […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is mailing the new Medicare cards with the (MBI) Medicare Beneficiary Identifier in phases by geographic location. There are 3 ways you and your office staff can get MBIs: Ask your Medicare patients: Ask your Medicare patients for their new Medicare card when they come for care. […]
ICD-10-CM implementation brought several significant changes to the OCG (Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting) with regard to Chapter 9 (Diseases of the Circulatory System) I.C.9.e Acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Preparing yourself for coding updates based on MI type is not sufficient. You also must learn how to apply these new codes using OGC for […]
Medicare has come up with a new revelation this time. It is taking steps to remove Social Security numbers from Medicare cards. A health care providers also are any provider from whom the employee’s group health plan will accept medical certification to substantiate a claim for benefits. The initiative from Medicare, the Centers for Medicare […]
A modifier is a two-digit numeric or alphanumeric character reported with an HCPCS Modifiers code, when appropriate. Modifiers are designed to give Medicare and commercial payers additional information needed to process a claim. This includes HCPCS Level I (Physicians’ Current Procedural Terminology [CPT®]) and HCPCS Level II codes. A modifier provides the means by which […]
There are several major issues facing compliance officers today, such as HIPAA, Stark Law, and Anti-kickback Statute issues, as well as many billing compliance issues. Billing issues continue to appear in federal government False Claims Act settlement agreements and government audit reports. Here, we’ll discuss incident-to and shared billing compliance pitfalls and focus on what […]