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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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.” […]
Observation, outpatient outlier payments, and the Inpatient-only List: Getting it right is not always easy. On this week’s Monitor Mondays we had a robust discussion about Condition Code 44. And on June 9, I will be presenting a webinar on the nebulous concept of “outpatient” service in a bed. Both of these have one thing […]
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 […]
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 […]
While the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for young children has yet to receive FDA authorization, AMA has created a CPT code to ensure healthcare professionals are prepared for the shot’s potential use. The American Medical Association (AMA) has updated the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set to include CPT codes for the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for […]
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 […]
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 […]