Having taken on more diverse responsibilities, many providers regard medical coding as a necessary evil; their primary focus is caring for their patients. Although many physicians select codes for the work they perform, they rely on specialized coding and auditing professionals to review their documentation and reporting for accuracy.
If you only bill using the CMS-1500 claim form, then you’ve probably never seen a revenue code. But if you need to bill for facilities, you know revenue codes play an important communicative role between providers and insurers. UB-04 claim forms sent to an insurance company without a revenue code associated with each charge will be rejected.
Healthcare organizations and providers are experiencing a shift in outpatient reimbursement: from fee-for-service to Alternative Payment Models and value-based reimbursement based on quality outcomes.
The most commonly reported CPT codes are getting a much-needed makeover. Shannon McCall, RHIA, CCS, CCS-P, CPC, CEMC, CRC, CCDS, writes about E/M code changes implemented this year and changes for implementation over the next two years.
CMS released a bulletin April 10 on behalf of HHS seeking providers to participate in a volunteer Provider Pilot Program to test the process for reviewing compliance with its HIPAA Administrative Simplification rules.
Representatives from CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) discussed hot topics and focus areas at HCCA's 2019 Compliance Institute in Boston, including developing interactive documentation checklists, potential changes to Stark Law this year, and methods to address the high rate of coding and documentation errors on inpatient rehabilitiation facility (IRF) claims.
