Completing all necessary documentation to describe the individual’s current condition, treatment needs, interventions, and medications must be done with precision. The end of a calendar year and the beginning of a new one can be a busy time for healthcare practices, and this year is shaping up to be no different. In much of the […]
Payers have been wrongly cutting payments to physicians for evaluation-and-management (E/M) services—often automatically through the use of claim-editing algorithms. A new AMA resource helps physicians fight back against health insurer downcoding. Downcoding happens when a payer changes a claim to a lower-cost service than what was submitted by the physician, leading the practice to get […]
Omicron subvariants BQ.1 and BQ.1.1 — dubbed “escape variants” for their immune evasiveness — now account for 49.7 percent of U.S. COVID-19 cases, according to the CDC’s COVID-19 data tracker weekly review published Nov. 18. Ten findings: Variants Based on projections for the week ending Nov. 19, the CDC estimates that BQ.1 accounts for 25.5 […]
In 1991, International Diabetes Federation (IDF) & World Health Organization (WHO) combine to create World Diabetes Day (WDD) on November 14 and we take this day to spread awareness and education on Diabetes, a chronic disease where pancreas won’t produce enough insulin which leads to serious health issues. Many physician and health providers will struggle […]
CPT® codes are effective Jan. 1, 2023. The American Medical Association (AMA) released CPT 2023 on Sept. 12. There are 225 new codes, 75 deletions, and 93 revisions. Most of the changes fall in the Evaluation and Management (E&M) section. The 2023 CPT codes are effective Jan. 1, 2023. The October 2022 release of the […]
The American Medical Association (AMA) says the 2023 CPT code updates emphasize its efforts to reduce administrative tasks. The AMA released the calendar year 2023 CPT code set, which builds on the AMA’s efforts to reduce administrative tasks in medicine, according to a recent press release. The CPT code update contains 393 changes, including 225 […]
Among the changes are a new code for reporting prolonged services in the inpatient or observation setting and significant guideline revisions. The American Medical Association (AMA) recently announced major revisions to Evaluation and Management (E&M) Services, effective Jan. 1, 2023. The E&M categories that will undergo revision in 2023 include inpatient and observation care services, […]
Dozens of additions, deletions, and revisions are effective Oct. 1, 2022. The October 2022 update to the HCPCS Level II code file from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) includes more than 40 changes, and most of them are new codes. The changes are effective Oct. 1, 2022, with a few important exceptions. […]
The October 2022 update to the ASC Payment System brings new codes, payment indicator changes, and corrected drug payments. Fourth quarter updates to the Ambulatory Surgical Center payment system (ASC PS), effective Oct. 1, 2022, include a new device pass-through code, new HCPCS Level II codes for drugs and biologicals, and new low-cost and high-cost […]
New guidelines remove ambiguity for some diagnosis coding in 2023. The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting is updated every year, but if you’re not in the habit of reviewing the guidelines at least annually, chances are your diagnosis coding is noncompliant and your claim denial rate is high. In the general session Diagnosis […]