Risky Language: Facet Joint Injection Denials Article Reference Code: NAMAS.04.17.2026 Written by: Robin Sewell CCS, CDIP, CPC, CIC, CCDS I recently reviewed a handful of RAC denials for Medical Necessity of facet joint procedures. Interestingly, the denials mainly focused on one single bullet in the Local Coverage Determination (LCD) Facet Joint Interventions for Pain Management. Namely,…
Production VS Quality: What We Forget When We Audit Fast Article Reference Code: NAMAS.03.27.2026 Written by: Sonal Patel, BA, CPMA, CPC, CMC In large organizations, certified medical auditing professionals are faced with competing metrics: production auditing versus quality auditing. Leadership within these entities often set high-volume expectations for their medical auditors to expedite and complete per…
Are You Educating Physicians—or Just Quoting the Guidelines? Article Reference Code: NAMAS.02.06.2026 Written by: Brenda Edwards, Director of Auditing at Crossroads Health Resources There may be a fine line between teaching and telling our physicians what to do in terms of documentation. Which is the most appropriate way to communicate with our physicians? Do you…
How to Train Coders for Real World Compliance Article Reference Code: NAMAS.01.30.2026 Written by: Beth Schleeper, Owner & Instructor, Advanced Coding Services Training new medical coders in 2026 is a whole new ball of wax. Between evolving payer policies, tighter compliance oversight, and technology, new coders can either become confident professionals, or expensive mistakes, quickly! The difference?…
How many charts should an auditor complete per hour? Join the discussion with Shannon DeConda In this week’s NAMAS vlog, Shannon is breaking down: Realistic benchmarks for E/M and surgical audits What leadership often misses when setting expectations The analogy that finally makes this click It’s not just about chart counts, just like it’s not…