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…
December 2, 2022 | By Jill Young, CPC, CEDC, CIMC While listening to the virtual AMA CPT/RBRVS Annual Symposium lecture by Gift Tee, BS, MPH, Director of the Division of Practitioner Services in the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group (HAPG) of CMS on the Update from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), I…
Tough topics and gray guidelines are what we like to cover in these “Takes,” and this one is no exception. Independent Historian did get cleared up somewhat with 2021 guidelines, but there are still some nuances there. 2021 guidelines did bring about a definition for Independent Historian. It cleared up some of that grayness that…
November 25, 2022 | By Grant Huang, CPMA, CPC It’s been two years since CMS collaborated with the AMA to revamp Evaluation & Management (E&M) coding guidelines, including a rework of prolonged services codes in the office/outpatient setting. This process culminated in a disagreement between the AMA’s CPT manual and CMS’ fee schedule final…
As we begin the new year and our focused training for the 2023 E&M changes and revisions, I’d like to encourage everyone to refocus their efforts on column three of medical decision-making. The header of column three is very specific, and it’s wordy. I think sometimes we fail to notice that because we’re stuck in…