Archive for The Month of May, 2006
Archive for the Month of May, 2006
Welcome to the medical billing blog archive for the month of May, 2006.
Here you will find links to every article added to the Outsource Management Group web site during the month of May, 2006.
You can browse this month's archives by clicking the "More" button from any of the excerpts below.
Medical Billing Guidelines Made Clear
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services can sometime seem a little vague in their guidelines. It is common knowledge in the medical billing world that a physician or non-physician practitioner must perform the history of present illness portion of an evaluation and management exam. However, this medical billing rule is nowhere to be found in the CMS guidelines. After examining the Center for Medicare & Medicaid’s guidelines, many people wonder if an ancillary staff member instead of a physician can take the history of present illness. Nowhere in the documentation does it prohibit this to be done. Most medical billing policies are spelled out exactly how they should be …
Are You Using the "G" Codes in Your Medical Billing Claims?
The American Medical Association (AMA) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services are in a medical billing dispute. According to the American Medical Association, new “G” codes will be an unnecessary hassle. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services believe that these new medical billing codes are an improvement in the healthcare system. Administratively, the CMS- created “G” codes and this may become a headache for your medical practice. There is virtually no incentive to use these medical billing codes. 2006 is the requested Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services implementation date, but no one is jumping up and down for this change. For many businesses, the bottom line …
Medical Billing Techniques That Will Get Your Practice Audited
Millions of dollars each year are lost through outright fraudulent medical billing claims. Unscrupulous individuals deliberately file some of these medical billing claims, others are the result of an inexperienced coder in an office just getting it wrong. Either way, it can cost your practice big time in the form of time spent gathering information to answer an audit and in the form of some very stiff fines if there are improprieties found in your medical billing practices. The most common fraudulent medical billing practice is when services that were never rendered to a patient are billed. Since all charges are listed on an explanation of benefits form that is …
Medicare Medical Billing Error Decrease
Medicare has released the stats for 2005 regarding The Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program implemented last year and it is showing that in the initial stages it has done some good for medical billing. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services heightened claim error awareness by initializing an error-testing program in 2005. In 2004, the error rate for medical billing was 10.1%. At the end of 2005, this year’s CMS error rate was 5.1%. This is nearly half the amount of errors this year than last year. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services attribute this improvement to the new CERT program. They believe that providers are inherently more …
Documentation is the Key to Getting Reimbursed
There are two major medical billing elements for critical care patients. If these two elements are missing, no or partial reimbursement will be received. In order to collect all the money you are entitled to, your medical billing must be accurate. The two most important elements in medical billing for critical care are time services were rendered and medical necessity requirements. Let’s face it, during emergency situations documenting times of services rendered on a patient is not the most important factor when dealing with a critical care patient. Patients are quickly moved into the emergency room, are quickly examined and treated as fast as possible. There are two main critical …
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