Archive for The Month of June, 2006
Archive for the Month of June, 2006
Welcome to the medical billing blog archive for the month of June, 2006.
Here you will find links to every article added to the Outsource Management Group web site during the month of June, 2006.
You can browse this month's archives by clicking the "More" button from any of the excerpts below.
Medical Billing and the Test of Good Coding
Medical billing professionals have many tasks beyond medical billing, including medical billing database management, spreadsheets and basic accounting to name a few. What has become the most important aspect of medical billing, and arguably the most difficult part of the job, is the challenge of medical billing codes. What makes coding in medical billing such a challenge? Many aspects, but first it’s important to understand the purpose of medical billing codes. Medical billing codes are what physicians submit to insurance companies or HMO’s (health maintenance organizations) in order to receive payment for each patient visit. Or, as it’s referred to in medical billing terms, each encounter. Part of what makes …
Medicare Contracting Changes
When billing to Medicare, expect some medical reimbursement delays in the upcoming years. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is currently reforming contractor workload for medical billing claims that come in. The speedy implementation of this medical billing reform may lead to reimbursement delays and errors. Congress mandated that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services reform their contracting system. This needs to be completed by October of 2011. However, since estimates of huge savings have been made, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services wants to speed up this medical billing contractor reform. Their goal is to have it completed by 2009, which is two years earlier. This …
Do Not Use Social Security Numbers To Identify Patients
Personal identification numbers have been a big issue in medical billing in the current years. In the past, the use of social security numbers to identify patients in medical billing was completely acceptable. As a matter of fact, this was the norm. Now, with the increased risk of identity theft, the use of social security numbers in medical billing is taboo. Recently in Colorado there was an unfortunate incident with member identification numbers used for medical billing. Kaiser Permanente Colorado made a human error and put the user identification numbers on the mailing label of a member magazine. This meant that anyone handling the magazine had access to the medical …
Handling Denials Due to Limitations of Service
Getting a medical billing claim denied is one of the biggest problems you can have with your billing. One tricky medical billing claim that many practices get denied for is the service for counseling patients that smoke or seeking to quit smoking and received counseling for doing so. Many payers outright reject any claim that has anything to do with tobacco, including counseling for the stoppage of its use. The patients either have zero coverage for this service or they get a limited number of counseling visits and those are normally less than full reimbursements. If the patient has already seen another physician regarding these services, you will have just …
The Trouble with Disease Management Medical Billing
Medical billing for disease management is not working for many insurance companies. Disease management has been a trend in the recent years. However, model programs are being shut down all over the country. Lack of interest is the downfall of these disease management programs. Medical billing and revenue for the year will fall due to disease management closings. A model disease management program, HeartPartners will be closing ten months early. The payer, PacifiCare Health Systems, cannot take any more medical billing loss. They were severely short on beneficiaries. They anticipated 15,000 beneficiaries, however only 3750 people actually enrolled in the program. Disease management is intended to educate patients about their …
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