Use the checklist below to ensure you’re meeting the full slate of requirements for the initial preventive physical exam (IPPE), also known as the Welcome to Medicare exam. The list is courtesy of Belinda Holmes, president of Healthcare Management Consulting in Sarasota, Fla.

The historically high denial rates on initial preventive physical examination (IPPE) and annual wellness visit (AWV) codes have seen a slight dip — even when billed with modifier 25 (Significantly, separately identifiable E/M service), commonly used when the physical results in a procedure.

Promoting a medical practice used to be a matter of posting an ad in the Yellow Pages® and sending out direct mailers, with radio and billboard ads thrown into the mix for larger or more ambitious practices. And while some of those methods are still an effective way to market a practice, they’re not enough in a world driven by social media and mobile technology.

For most practices, marketing requires at least a working knowledge of social media and the internet and the means or ability to leverage those tools into brand awareness. And while just having a website was enough a decade ago, most sites will be lost in the online wilderness now without the proper keywords that allow consumers to find them.

You’ll have a manageable set of diagnosis code changes on Oct. 1 — a total of 406 new, revised and deleted codes — and providers who code non-pressure chronic ulcers will receive the bulk of the new codes in the form of 72 new diagnoses that fill in the blanks for ulcers without evidence of necrosis.

Here are the latest policy updates from the nation’s capital on the Trump administration’s attempt to shore up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplace and how cuts will be applied to HHS.

If you have high quality scores or are an accountable care organization (ACO), the Consumer Assessment for Healthcare Providers and Systems (CAHPS) or web interface reporting methods for the merit-based payment incentive system (MIPS) could make quality reporting easier.