July 5, 2024 By: Mary A Curry, BS, CPC, CPMA Auditing the Global Package When auditing provider services, what is the best method to approach the concept of a global package? Some rental companies provide a renter with all-inclusive pricing for an apartment. The payment arrangement covers heating, electricity, water, and garbage for the…
June 28, 2024 By: Ashely Harless Biopsy vs Removal: A better understanding I was in an AAPC workshop with several doctors once, and when we reached integumentary day, biopsy vs. removal became a hot topic. The instructor knew I specialized in dermatologic coding and turned the conversation over to me. I was scared that I…
May 10, 2024 | By: LaDonna D. Brown CPC, CPMA, CEMA When I was asked if I would like to be a contributor to NAMAS May articles, my first thought was absolutely. This is particularly timely as May is Mental Health Awareness Month, a crucial period for coders and auditors to reflect on the importance…
February 16, 2024 | By Jennifer McNamara, CCS, CPC, CDEO, CPMA, CRC, COSC, CGSC, COPC, AAPC Approved Instructor | CEO, Healthcare Inspired, LLC Beyond Box Checking Compliance with reporting Evaluation and Management (E/M) services often takes center stage and has received much attention in recent years. They are the main revenue stream for Primary Care…
November 1, 2023 | By Shannon O. DeConda We conducted a comprehensive survey to gain a better understanding of the ongoing debate in the industry about whether the E/M level of services is increasing or decreasing with the latest guidelines implemented in 2021. While we acknowledge that the survey isn’t scientifically conclusive, we urge organizations…
December 25, 2020 | By By Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA The New Year is nearly upon us and with it, implementation of the much-talked-about 2021 E/M guidelines for office/outpatient codes 99202-99215. These guidelines include completely revamping how time works for selecting code levels, which in turn has resulted in brand new rules for prolonged…
October 29, 2021 | Edward Townley CPC, CEMC, CUC, ROCC, Founder, Cogent9 Consulting This is the time of year that we receive our new coding manuals. First the ICD-10, which becomes effective October 1 and CPT and HCPCS manuals which come nearer to the end of the calendar year, and effective January 1. For…
October 20, 2023 | By Jennifer McNamara, CCS, CPC, CDEO, CPMA, CRC, COSC, CGSC, COPC, AAPC Approved Instructor | CEO, Healthcare Inspired, LLC Every year we get updates to the Official Guidelines for Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, and this year for reporting year 2024 we received an update regarding Chapter 21 for…
October 13, 2023 | By J. Paul Spencer, CPC, COC Way back in 1976, as an elementary school kid in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I came across a book in the library called 2010: Living in the Future. In my then-current world of AMC Pacers and seersucker suits, the book promised great things. Apparently,…
Let’s have a conversation about the data column on MDM. Specifically, what I’d like to address is imaging services. When a provider performs an x-ray while seeing a patient, and they are not going to bill a professional component of that test, how do we count that service? Is that service something we can count?…