Medical Billing Tips for Cardiac Rehab in 2007

Cardiac rehabilitation staff members have great medical billing news coming their way. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services expanded coverage for cardiac rehab. The medical billing element for cardiac rehabilitation will be much less strict when it comes to requirements. In the past year, the requirements in order to get medical billing reimbursement for cardiac rehab were strict. You had to have a heart attack, angina, or coronary artery bypass surgery. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services now realizes that this type of care does not prevent any problem from occurring. It was merely reactive treatment.

In December of 2005, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced that providers may do medical billing for cardiac rehab if the patient has a valve replacement or repair, a heart transplant, and percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. They also want to lower the amount of medical billing submissions for cardiac rehabilitation. To accomplish this, they will stress the importance of education, nutritional services, and prevention.

It is much less expensive for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to pay for preventive cardiac rehab, than to fund medical billing reimbursement for bypass surgery. Many other preventive services are being covered by CMS. Preventive treatment is changing the scope of medical billing in the United States.

If your clinic needs help catching up with the new cardiac rehab changes, hire a medical billing firm. These companies can assist your practice to get organized and prepared for the medical billing changes. If help isn’t enough, these medical billing firms can actually take over your claims responsibilities. What ever they can do to assist you, they will. Medical billing doesn’t have to be a hassle. Medical billing firms can help you adjust to the new cardiac rehab changes and ensure your claims are filed using the most updated coding so you get the maximum reimbursements.

View all Articles by: Kathryn Etienne, CCS-P