Tag: CPT Codes

Get-Ready-for-EM-Coding-in 2023

Get Ready for E/M Coding in 2023

The reverberations of the 2021 evaluation and management (E/M) documentation guidelines have barely subsided, yet we are already on the verge of witnessing further changes in this segment of CPT® for 2023 – and this time, the implications stretch beyond mere office visits. If your healthcare institution conscientiously adopted the 2021 E/M guidelines, there’s no […]
Medical-Necessity-Denials-Image

How to avoid medical necessity denials

How to avoid medical necessity denials and ensure timely payment. Sick visit on the same day as an annual wellness visit (AWV) Reason for denial: Lack of clear clinical documentation regarding why the physician had to go above and beyond what is normally addressed during an AWV. How to avoid it:“I often tell doctors to […]
Can-you-bill-EM-from-the-same-appointment-Image

Can you bill E/M from the same appointment?

Despite myths to the contrary, physicians are not prohibited from coding and billing for both preventive and problem-focused evaluation and management (E/M) services when they are performed during the same appointment. Motivated by a desire to avoid audits, many physicians tend to undercode for the work they perform. Others, however, are just unaware that the idea that […]
2022-care-management-services-codes-to-know

2022 care management services codes to know

Question: Can you please tell us what the new codes are for principal care management and chronic care management? Answer: There are three new codes in the care management section of the CPT codebook. Care Management Services Principal Care Management Services New CPT codes have been added in 2022 to describe “Principal Care Management Services.” […]
learn-about-opps-changes-in-july-update

Learn About OPPS Changes in July Update

Please be mindful that several coding and billing alterations pertaining to outpatient claims have been backdated to either April or January. Numerous modifications to Medicare’s Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) in the July update closely mirror those in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database (MPFSDB) update for the same quarter. These include the introduction of […]
take-the-complexity-out-of-behavioral-health-coding

Take the Complexity Out of Behavioral Health Coding

The secret to ensuring both proper payment and compliance is in the details. Why is mental health coding so complex? Laurie Bouzarelos, MHA, CPC, asked and answered that question in her presentation “Coding and Billing for Psychiatry and Outpatient Mental Health Providers” at AAPC’s virtual HEALTHCON 2022, March 27-30. Bouzarelos manages to take much of […]
use-0074a-for-covid-19-pediatric-booster

Use 0074A for COVID-19 Pediatric Booster

Limit this code to administration of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine. On May 17, 2022, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) amended the emergency use authorization (EUA) for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine to authorize the use of a booster dose for patients 5 through 11 years of age. The CPT® code to report administration of this […]
preventive-medicine-versus-em-codes-the-same-day-coding-dilemma

Preventive Medicine Versus E&M Codes

Choosing a proper office visit code can become confusing unless one understands the rules separating preventive medicine and evaluation and management (E&M) coding. Problem-oriented E&M services, office, and other outpatient visit codes 99202-99215 (along with hospital, observation, and consultative encounters) are for patients who present with signs, symptoms, conditions, diagnoses and/or problems that need to […]