September 4, 2020 | By Brenda Edwards, CPC, CDEO, CPB, CPC-I, CEMC, CRC, CMRS, CMCS Is anybody not aware of the Evaluation and Management (E/M) changes coming in January 2021? Have you asked your administrator, managers, front office, back office, and providers if they are ready for these major changes? Anybody that touches CPT® 99202-99215…
February 19, 2021 | By David Carpenter Critical care billing is relatively simple. Documentation requires three items – The patient is critically ill. What the provider is doing to treat or prevent organ system failure or compromise. How much time the provider spent providing critical care. While critical care billing is relatively simple,…
November 20, 2020 | By Brenda Edwards, CPC, CDEO, CPB, CPC-I, CEMC, CRC, CMRS, CMCS COVID-19 has been disrupting the healthcare environment for over a year now. Massive changes and evolutions have been introduced for how to code for services during COVID-19 including virtual visits, lab testing, and vaccinations. This article will cover COVID-19…
May 28, 2021 | Aimee L. Wilcox, CPMA, CCS-P, CST, MA, MT, Director of Content, innoviHealth Prolonged services codes were created to capture reimbursement for time spent with a patient that goes beyond the typical time associated with the primary service. We’re all aware of those patients that, unexpectedly, require so much prolonged provider…
December 24, 2021 | By Grant Huang, CPMA, CPC The 2021 E/M guidelines’ more permissive rules for time-based coding is a potential watershed moment for physicians who want to spend less of their time documenting E/M notes. But if we interpret these changes to mean that the longstanding concept of “medical necessity” can be…
May 22, 2020 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CEMA, CEMA-O NAMAS, like other professional organizations, has a network of compliance professionals who are diligently culling through the multiple interim final rules and daily barrage of e-mails about temporary relaxation of guidance for reporting provider services. This information has become nightly…
July 17, 2020 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CEMA, CEMA-O By now everyone has heard that we will no longer have to score history and exam components to determine an E&M code level for the office/outpatient CPT codes 99202-99215, beginning January 1, 2021. Instead, we will use new methods for…
September 18, 2020 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CEMA, CEMA-O One of my favorite bedtime stories, when I was younger, was Chicken Little. Part of the reason it is a favorite is because I remember my father’s voice and facial expressions when Chicken Little exclaimed “The sky is falling! The…
December 11, 2020 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CEMA, CEMA-O There is a long-standing rule in our family that Christmas is not allowed to start until the Thanksgiving dinner dishes are washed and put away. I must be completely honest; that family rule has been thrown out the window this…
February 12, 2021 | By Pam Vanderbilt, CPC, CPMA, CPPM, CPC-I, CEMC, CEMA, CEMA-O A few weeks ago, NAMAS presented a webinar about 2021 time and prolonged services. The flood of participant questions made it very obvious there is still uncertainty about how to appropriately use time to select the level of office…