Category Archives: Coding & Billing
CMS Provides Guidance on 5010 Discretionary Enforcement Period for Medicare Fee for Service
Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) issued an announcement on December 14th regarding its plan for the 90 Day Discretionary Enforcement Period for non-compliant HIPAA covered entities. According to that announcement, CMS provided a 90 day discretionary period for compliance with planned January … Read Full Post
5010 – Much Ado about Nothing?
It seems like not a day goes by in healthcare without some gloomy prediction about the changes lurking on the horizon. The one causing the most stir at the moment is 5010. To understand “5010,” we first need to take … Read Full Post
How are Depression and Major Depression Different?
According to Barron’s Medical guide Dictionary of Medical Terms, Fifth Edition by Mike A. Rothenberg, M.D., and Charles F. Chapman, depression (ICD-9-CM code 311) is a dejected state of mind with feelings of sadness, discouragement, and hopelessness, often accompanied by … Read Full Post
What We’re Reading – Solving Your 9 Biggest Billing Blunders
The author of this article consulted with several coding professionals to come up with a list of the nine most common mistakes physicians make when it comes to documentation and coding. The coding professionals also weighed in on what they … Read Full Post
Coding Cancers: A Common Charting Error
One of the most common provider charting errors occurs in the area of cancer diagnoses. Practitioners routinely document and code cancers when the patient’s disease has been treated and is no longer evident. For risk adjusted practices, this means the … Read Full Post
What We’re Reading – Preparing for the ICD – 10 Transition
With only 37 months left before the healthcare world transitions to the ICD-10-CM, the author of this article suggests taking a systematic approach, in order to make the transition as smooth as possible. The key elements in making this transition … Read Full Post
Medicare Billing for Seasonal Flu Vaccines
As you know, Medicare began covering annual influenza immunizations in 1993 for all Medicare beneficiaries. Medicare covers both the costs of the vaccine and its administration by recognized providers. There is no coinsurance or co-payment applied to this benefit, and … Read Full Post
How should I prepare for ICD-10?
From time to time, we hear about consultants scaring the daylights out of providers with horror stories about the transition to ICD-10. We disagree with that approach, although it’s important to have a healthy respect for any system that – … Read Full Post
What exactly is ICD-10?
ICD-10-CM (based on the International Classification of Diseases, 10th edition, Clinical Modification) is a standard set of codes used for conveying a patient’s clinical profile, if you will. Defined codes are used primarily to facilitate the gathering of data, its … Read Full Post
New CMS ABN Booklet Available
CMS has revised a booklet that explains the Advance Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage(ABN) Form. An ABN is a standardized form that health care providers must give Medicare beneficiary when the provider believes that Medicare may not pay for an item … Read Full Post