One of the amazing benefits of a NAMAS membership is “Ask The Expert”. For this “Take”, I’m going to share one of the questions submitted to us by a NAMAS member, Carol, about emergency room leveling related around chest pain and high complexity. So, Carol writes that the data column for most of their patients…
July 21, 2023 | By Scott Kraft, CPMA, CPC Whenever I audit charts under the 2021 E/M Documentation Guidelines, which now apply in all places of service, I like to start by reviewing the first and third columns. The first column is Number and Complexity of the Presenting Problem, and the third column is…
July 7, 2023 | By Victoria Moll, CPC, COC, CPMA, CRC, CPFC, CPRC, AAPC Approved Instructor, Fellow CEO, Contempo Coding It’s a frequent grievance heard in the healthcare sphere – patients walk in for their “no-cost” annual exam only to walk out with a bill for a separate office visit due to an existing…
June 30, 2023 | By Sonal Patel, CPMA, CPC, CMC, ICDCM One of my favorite childhood memories includes learning how to paint. Messy and fun, fingerpainting and potato printing held my attention for years. As I got a little older, I marveled at how I could create masterpieces by using the “paint by numbers”…
June 9, 2023 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CDEO, CPB, CFPC, CRC, CPEDC, CEMA President, Knowledge Tree Billing, Inc. You may be thinking, “Really, Pam? Are we talking about modifier 25 again?!?” Yes! Considering the recent uproar caused by one payer’s plan to implement a policy requiring prepayment review of…
May 12, 2023 | By Scott Kraft, CPMA, CPC The E/M Documentation Guidelines implemented in 2021 essentially place, time and medical decision making on equal footing. When visit time is documented, the service can be coded based on whichever of time and medical decision making is most favorable to the provider. This has led…
March 31, 2023 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CDEO, CPB, CFPC, CRC, CPEDC, CEMA President, Knowledge Tree Billing, Inc. A lot happens in March! Spring officially begins — bringing with it new growth, Spring Break, and basketball fans across the country get bracket crazy with March Madness. In all the…
March 24, 2023 | By Jennifer McNamara, CCS,CPC,CDEO,CPMA,CRC, COSC,CGSC,COPC, AAPC Approved Instructor | Director of Education and Coding, oncospark When auditing medical charts, there are significant differences between evaluation and management services (E/M) and surgical services. These differences are essential to understand to ensure that the medical documentation is accurate, complete, and compliant with regulatory requirements.…
Just as we have changed professionally post-COVID, our work environments also may have changed or may need to change. In Today’s Take, I’d like to discuss the structural changes that need to take place post-COVID. Recently, Stephanie Allard did an amazing job presenting a NAMAS webinar addressing the organizational structure of your internal audit teams.…
We often spend a lot of time talking about prescription drug management. Today in our “Take” we will spend time addressing over-the-counter medication. This question was submitted to me by Kelly, who works in a dermatology practice, but her question is relevant no matter your specialty. Kelly’s question is about a physician who is using…