Part B News
Watch for requests for more face-to-face visit notes from home health agencies
06/08/2015
by: Joshua Poltilove
You may hear more from home health agencies you work with asking for more documentation of face-to-face encounters that certify patients for those services.
Acceptance of claims increases during second CMS end-to-end testing week
06/08/2015
by: Josh Poltilove and Nicholas Stern
About 88% of claims received during CMS’ second-ever ICD-10 end-to-end testing week, which ran April 27 through May 1, were found acceptable by Medicare contractors, CMS announced June 2.
Stop using J codes for compound drugs, new Q code ends compound confusion
06/08/2015
by: Julia Kyles
If you have to juggle various codes for compound drugs based on the type of drug and carrier requirements, you’ll get a break July 1. That’s when you’ll begin to report Q9977 (Compounded drug, not otherwise classified) for all unclassified compound drugs, according to manual 100-04, Change Request 9167.
Patient can pick up pessary but not pay — make sure Medicare does
06/08/2015
by: Roy Edroso
Question: My gynecologist has been using pessaries for years. Just recently, the cost to purchase these went up, and we are now losing money on reimbursements. 
Case No. 1: The case of the missing hospital money
06/08/2015
by: Maureen West McCarthy, CPA
Editor’s note: This is the first installment of a new feature in Part B News. Stay tuned for the Billing Case Files every two months.
Top 12 most reported and denied codes include therapy, allergy, E/M services
06/08/2015
by: Richard Scott
Start with a batch of the most billed codes, add a dose of high denials and you’ve got a potent mix of big dollars — lost or gained.
Do SRA for meaningful use before year’s end ­— but the sooner the better
05/25/2015
by: Roy Edroso

Providers can conduct their security risk analyses (SRAs) for meaningful use anytime during the calendar year of the reporting period as long as the assessment is complete before attestation, CMS clarified recently.

3 ways ICD-10-CM crosswalks can cause problems with your diagnosis coding
05/25/2015
by: Scott Kraft

Be careful if you plan to rely on mapping tools to select the correct ICD-10-CM codes as part of your transition to the new code set. Not only do these tools, such as General Equivalency Mappings (GEMs), not offer the full range of ICD-10-CM codes available that could crosswalk from the ICD-9-CM code, but also the only choices you’re offered may be incorrect choices based on the physician’s documentation.

New CMS guidance: Learn when same-month billing for CCM/TCM allowed
05/25/2015
by: Roy Edroso

Good news: New guidance from CMS on chronic care management (CCM) says you can start the CCM billing clock on a patient the same month he was in the hospital or skilled nursing facility, as long as he wasn’t an inpatient for the entire month.

Mind your billing accuracy, methodology as OIG targets place-of-service coding
05/25/2015
by: Richard Scott

Tighten up your billing protocol to ensure you’re coding for the correct place of service (POS) when your provider steps into a facility to perform a procedure — and avoid increased scrutiny from your Medicare administrative contractor (MAC).

Prev Next

Login

User Name:
Password:
Forgot password
Welcome to the new Part B News Online. If you are a returning user having trouble logging in, please click here.
Quick Links
Learning Opportunities
See more...
Forum

The Forum is temporarily unavailable.

click icon to expand
Back to top
Privacy Policy
|
Terms of Use
|
© 2025 DecisionHealth, an HCPro Brand