The 2014 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule stipulated a negative update to the MPFS that was to be effective January 1, 2014. That reduction was averted for three months with the passage of the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013, which provided for a 0.5 percent update for services paid under the …
Will You Be in Business After October 1, 2014?
Many small practices are expected to go out of business with the changes in ICD10. Why? October 1, 2014 ushers in the largest change many of us have seen in medical billing and coding as the US adopts ICD10. The changes are sweeping. According to the CDC, there are almost 19 times as many procedure …
Create a Disaster Plan for ICD-10 and Your Cash Flow
It’s less than one year away. On October 1, 2014, ICD-10 will take effect. It’s a major change that is likely to cause any number of snafus, ultimately resulting in major delays in reimbursement to providers. It’s critical that first and foremost, you do everything you can in your practice to ensure that you are …
Avoiding Potential Legal Issues
All health care professionals including advanced practice clinicians (nurse practitioners and physician assistants) want to prevent any potential legal actions related to the excellent care they provide. Let me first start off by saying, I am not an attorney and I don’t play one in real life, on TV or on the internet. I had …
Incident To: Proceed with Caution
Billing incident to is a question I frequently find in my inbox, on listserves, social media groups and at conferences. I’ve even seen this discussed, often erroneously on medical billing and coding discussion groups and listserves. In most situations, this applies to Medicare, but it is possible that your state Medicaid payer, as well as …
Medicare Update for Clinicians
There are three updates that Medicare has recently posted that Nurse Practitioners, Physician Assistants and other clinicians (and their billing staff) will want to be aware of. 1. Summary of Policies in the CY 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) and the Telehealth Originating Site Facility Fee Payment Amount – http://www.cms.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/MM7264.pdf 2. Emergency Update to …