October 23, 2020 | By Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA It’s not even 2021 yet, but gray areas have already surfaced in the 2021 E/M documentation guidelines, as more and more coders and auditors read the fine print. The 2021 guidelines, which will apply only to outpatient/office visit codes 99202-99215, are being implemented in part…
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…
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…
August 15, 2020 | By Shannon DeConda, CPC, CPC-1, CPMA, CEMC, CMSCS As we migrate to the new AMA CPT Guidelines for Outpatient Office E&M visits, we mourn the loss of what has been our cozy wearing of the 1995 & 1997 Documentation Guidelines. Out of sentimental respect for the Documentation Guidelines for E&M…
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…