February 24, 2023 | By Sonal Patel, CPMA, CPC, CMC, ICDCM Well, the time is finally here! 2023 has ushered in a new standard for how we look at evaluation and management (“E/M”) services. Physicians, providers, coders, auditors, educators, and compliance professionals alike are finally able to utilize much more than the “bean-counting” methods…
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In the expansion category of the 2021 documentation guidelines, there’s some information that may be a little confusing that would like to review with you in Today’s Take. On page 23, under Initial Hospital Inpatient or Observation Care, under the New and Established Patient, there’s a paragraph that reads a little confusing: “If a consultation…
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February 10, 2023 | By Grant Huang, CPMA, CPC The realm of E/M auditing is vast, and 2023 will bring more work here than before thanks to CPT’s extensive revisions to its E/M guidelines for inpatient, facility, and home visit services — now in effect. Both compliance professionals and providers must always keep in…
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THE RECAP An announcement on Monday, January 30th, by the OMB (Office of Management and Budget), and the White House, stated that they plan to end the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency on May 11th. The end of the emergency declarations would signal a new chapter in the Biden administration’s response to the…
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January 27, 2023 | By Stephanie Allard, CPC, CEMA, RHIT A large part of the last 6 months for auditors and educators has been spent in preparation for the new 2023 revisions to the 2021 E/M guidelines. For some of the patient settings, this is a large change. While many see the 2021 E/M…
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January 13, 2023 | By J. Paul Spencer, CPC, COC A major change to appeals submissions is set to begin on February 1st, 2023 that will effect practices and facilities across the country. United Healthcare (UHC) is mandating the submission of electronic reconsiderations and appeals for most types of claims and plans under their…
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January 19, 2023 | By Scott Kraft, CPMA, CPC Practices and providers can bill monthly chronic pain management services for Medicare patients beginning in 2023, using two new HCPCS G codes: G3002 and G3003. But these new codes come with specific guidelines that auditors will need to be on the lookout for when providers…
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Today’s Take is about independent interpretation, and I know we’ve talked about this before, but I think this is one we’ll have to discuss a lot. Recently I got a question about this topic from Tracy (Hi Tracy! I’m glad to answer your question.) So, Tracy explained that her providers are pain management providers and…
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January 13, 2023 | By J. Paul Spencer, CPC, COC I received a great question the other day, and I thought it was a great stepping-off point for a discussion in this space. It’s 2023, and a patient is placed in observation status by an admitting physician. A non-admitting physician is called in for…
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How many charts have you guys already audited in 2023? That’s a really big question. I hope you’re already starting to discuss your audit plan for 2023. It’s not too early, and I hope you’ve already started actually auditing charts for 2023. I recently sent out an audit tip that addressed productivity and quality production…
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