If you’re like most coders, you might be feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the coding changes on the horizon—such as the 2019 ICD-10-CM that takes effect October 1, 2018 and the upcoming CPT coding updates. Coders of all specialties are in the same proverbial More..
Get ready for some critical colonoscopies coding changes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released the proposed 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), which contains a few significant surprises. Find out if the changes will benefit or harm your reimbursement for gastroenterology More..
In the 2019 ICD-10-CM release, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) unveiled a total of 473 code changes, including 279 brand-new codes. And urology is among the top 10 specialties facing significant diagnostic coding changes for 2019. The scoop: Most of the new More..
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the updated ICD-10-CM codes for 2019 – which will be effective Oct. 1, 2018 – and if you haven’t already guessed, the revisions mostly aim to make the codes more specific. Get ready to take More..
Psychiatric hospitals and psychiatric units within general hospitals aren’t the only places that must comply with ligature risk-related safety regulations. Now, The Joint Commission (TJC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) are cracking down on all hospitals and other healthcare settings to More..
Why are modifiers 25 and 59 causing so many billing and compliance problems lately? Payers are claiming that providers are frequently misusing these modifiers, which often leads to overbilling – a big no-no. Modifiers 25 and 59 are typically high-risk, with rampant misuse, and cause More..
Is your hospital taking steps to protect suicidal patients from ligature risks? If not, you will now face an immediate jeopardy deficiency citation. The Conditions of Participation (CoPs) for hospitals includes numerous sections, but the section that’s earning hospitals the most deficiencies is Patient’s Rights More..
As the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) continues its crackdown on hospice billing, you can expect increasing denials and ever-harsher scrutiny of your claims. And this is why, now more than ever before, you need to stay current on the most prevalent hospice More..
Making costly coding mistakes when reporting shoulder surgical procedures is, sadly, rather easy. After all, you have a whole host of complex coding rules to follow – not to mention the major coding and documentation changes that have come down the pike for 2018. From More..
From differentiating between biopsy and partial mastectomy to reporting image-guided biopsies, including placement of radiological markers, coding for breast procedures is nothing short of mind-bending at times. And the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS’) recent changes to breast-related CPT and ICD-10 codes doesn’t More..