Part B News | Part B News

Tread carefully as legal risks ratchet up for doctors prescribing opioids

10/09/2017

Assess your practice’s approach to prescribing opioids. The war against the opioid epidemic is heating up — and physicians are in the compliance hot seat.

Prepare for new codes as imaging of chest, abdomen gets updated

10/09/2017

by: Richard Scott

Get ready to pivot to a new suite of imaging codes in 2018 to avoid revenue disruptions that may occur as a slate of current X-ray codes go on the chopping block.

Reaction shot: Quality Payment Program comments offer clarity for 2018 reporters

10/02/2017

by: Richard Scott

The most recent attempt at Medicare payment reform was, in retrospect, an unmitigated success — legislatively, at least. As far as the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act’s (MACRA) impact on physician practices? That’s a more complicated matter.

After Graham-Cassidy bill fails to go for vote, no Obamacare alternative in sight

10/02/2017

by: Roy Edroso

The collapse of yet another version of an Obamacare repeal-and-replace bill in the Senate likely means that the ACA status quo will persist for a while, though other Trump administration machinations may affect the program’s ability to provide inexpensive coverage for patients.

Support medical necessity for high-level hospital visits and cut error remarks

10/02/2017

by: Richard Scott

Shore up the depth and timeliness of your documentation when you report subsequent hospital visits (99231-99233) and you’ll go a long way to avoiding denials on these oft-reported codes.

Tighten up time in the waiting room with 7 simple techniques

10/02/2017

by: Roy Edroso

You can find more time for appointments even in busy physician practice schedules by taking small steps that can make a big difference, a new study of practice operations says.

Hospital E/M use, denials holding steady; NPPs a hidden success story

10/02/2017

by: Roy Edroso

Take note of some interesting patterns among specialties when it comes to hospital inpatient codes, even if the codes’ utilization and denial rates haven’t changed much in recent years.

4 changes to your practice that can make MIPS easier to ace

09/25/2017

by: Roy Edroso

Make your merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS) reporting easier and higher-scoring by streamlining some operations to prepare for the proposed 2018 regulations, which raise the floor of required measures from three to 15.

Sanders’ Medicare for all would bring in more patients — but depress payments

09/25/2017

by: Roy Edroso

Should Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Medicare-for-all legislation pass, experts think the likely outcome is more people going to the doctor — who may get less money for treating them.

Heed the ‘initial’ description of G0438 to get annual wellness visits cleared

09/25/2017

by: Richard Scott

Do your due diligence to ensure a patient has not yet received an initial annual wellness visit (AWV) to overcome elevated denial rates for code G0438 (Annual wellness visit, initial visit) and also watch that your billing period doesn’t overlap with other preventive services.

Login

User Name:
Password:
Remember me Forgot password
Welcome to the new Part B News Online. If you are a returning user having trouble logging in, please click here.