The Medicare Administrative Carrier (MAC) Highmark processed Medicare claims with a conversion factor using the 21% sustainable growth rate (SGR) cut - costing you and your peers time and money. Double check to make sure your own carrier didn't process claims at the lower rate just to be sure. Initially, Highmark announced the MAC held claims and none were processed at the reduced rate.

Federal officials slightly loosened electronic prescribing requirements you must follow to prescribe narcotics in a final rule effective June 1. In short, you'll need to take four steps to set yourself up to e-prescribe narcotics at your practice, say experts who spoke with Part B News about the new Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) rule.

Increased efficiency and a new, effective way to communicate with patients were two benefits one OB/GYN in Texas saw when he adopted a patient portal at his practice - economic and practical benefits you can see as well. The physician can't quantify how much he saved or how much extra money his practice has earned, but his practice has continued to grow because of the patient portal and the benefits justify the costs.

You and your peers have been using advance beneficiary notice of non-coverage (ABN) forms less frequently over the last few years, according to a Part B News analysis of the latest available CMS claims data from 2008. The number of all Medicare Part B claims billed with the GA modifier (waiver of liability statement issued, as required by payer policy) fell to a five-year low of about 37.5 million in 2008.

One of the biggest mistakes billing staff can make is to rebill a claim without taking the time to call the insurance company to find out why the claim was denied. Rebilling once or twice is bad enough, but some employees take it even further. 

A national organization representing medical practice leaders says it is increasingly frustrated by what it terms the “unnecessarily arduous process” for reporting data to Medicare’s PQRI. Once the reports are filed, there is an “unreasonable lag time” for results, the group states.

Depending on how well they are organized, board meetings can provide vital monthly or quarterly face-to-face time among the decision-makers to keep your physician practice running smoothly. Or they can devolve into a cat rodeo—a huge waste of time and energy where very well-educated, opinionated, highly trained professionals find themselves arguing over the everyday and trivial issues that should be solved on the middle-management level. 

With increased regulatory attention devoted to sterilization procedures through The Joint Commission, CMS, and your state health department, those responsible for decontamination need to be sure every part of the sterilization process is reviewed and accounted for, not only to ensure patient safety, but also to provide a safe working environment for employees. 

Despite increased scrutiny from CMS and private payers, many provider organizations continue to make costly mistakes in coding, documentation, and often in both.

There’s no shortage of resources, of course. So what’s the problem? Three experts with extensive consulting experience share what they’ve seen and offer some advice.

This week's question is answered by Sean Weiss, CPC, vice president, DecisionHealth Professional Services. 

Q. Can non-physician practitioners (NPPs) such as physician assistants (PAs) or nurse practitioners (NPs) have reciprocal billing arrangements with one another if all of the PAs/NPs are enrolled in Medicare?