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Welcome to the medical billing blog containing news and articles relating to medical billing, medical coding, ICD, HIPAA and practice management functions.

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The Blog Currently Contains 1,260+ Healthcare Articles

61% of Physicians Say EHR Systems Reduce Clinical Efficiency

“EHR systems continue to fall short of provider expectations and detract from the joys of practicing medicine, according to a recent national survey by The Doctors Company. More than 3,400 physicians from 49 states and the District of Columbia offered their perspective on EHR technology, federal regulations, value-based care, patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs), and other aspects of the healthcare system. Survey respondents included surgical specialists, primary care providers, and nonsurgical specialists. The majority of respondents were 51 and older. Overall, the majority of surveyed physicians reported that EHR systems have had a negative impact on the patient-provider relationship, clinical workflows, and clinical productivity. Fifty-four percent of surveyed physicians stated their

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P on October 3, 2018

Billing and coding for advanced clinical practitioners

Melissa’s Mention…   “A 67-year-old patient with diabetes shows up for her appointment. Her A1C levels are high. She reveals during the visit with the advanced practice clinician that she’s not taking her medication as prescribed. The patient’s physician is doing rounds at the hospital and is, thus, unavailable to consult with the patient in person.   At this point, the practice needs to answer a couple questions:   Can the nurse practitioner (NP) or physician assistant (PA) bill the visit under his/her own national provider identification (NPI) number? Or, is the visit appropriate for “incident to” billing and, thus, billable under the physician who created the patient’s care plan?

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P on August 29, 2018

Are Health Record Guidelines the Same in Every State?

Health professionals typically know many federal guidelines instruct how to handle patient health records. However, they may not understand whether such guidelines differ from state to state. Getting clarification on that matter is essential, particularly when people move to other places after practicing in one for extended periods of time, or if they work as traveling providers on short-term assignments. Medical Retention Time Frames Vary by Location One of the specifics health providers must comply with during their patient care duties relates to the length of time they keep medical records. The details change based on the state. Furthermore, there are differences in retention time for hospitals versus physicians. Some

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P on July 26, 2018

RCM tip: Follow all payer billing guidelines

“In today’s healthcare environment, it is more important than ever that healthcare providers follow appropriate billing guidelines for each contract with third-party payers, according to Monte Sandler, executive vice president of revenue cycle management at DocuTAP. “With the various types of contracts urgent care providers are entering into with third- party insurers, it’s extremely important to follow the appropriate billing guidelines for each. For example, clinical guidelines are not necessarily the same as those for billing,” he told Becker’s Hospital Review. “Many contracts require all providers to be individually credentialed, and services to be billed under the rendering provider, whereas some contracts allow all providers to bill for services under

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P on July 12, 2018

Patients Cannot File HIPAA Lawsuits

A U.S. district court judge in Washington, D.C., on June 15 dismissed a case by a patient who alleged Laboratory Corporation of America, or LabCorp, violated HIPAA, reaffirming the precedent that individual patients cannot file lawsuits for alleged HIPAA violations, according to GovInfoSecurity. Here are five things to know about the case: 1. The district court’s ruling dismissed a lawsuit filed by a patient of Washington, D.C.-based Providence Hospital. According to the lawsuit, the patient underwent laboratory testing from LabCorp during a June 2017 hospital visit. During the visit, the former patient said she was instructed to submit medical information at a computer intake station that was allegedly within eyesight

Published By: Melissa Clark, CCS-P on June 26, 2018