Ralph Sitler III, JD--Many areas of industry welcome new technology with open arms, especially the medical field. Physicians and other health care professionals are always trying to find new and intrepid ways to improve patient care, increase efficiency, and boost the bottom line. However, there are often new risks associated with adopting new technology. This article aims to make physicians aware of some of these risks and help avoid potential legal issues concerning use of EMRs.
Karyn Shatzman, CPC, CGSC--Did you ever work really hard on something, above and beyond the normal circumstances, only to find out that you get no additional compensation for what you have accomplished? This happens to physicians all the time when they do medical billing for increased procedural services. The CPT book gives you a description of a service that is rendered by a physician. The American Medical Association, who writes the CPT, sets guidelines for that procedure code. What happens if that surgery that typically takes two hours to perform suddenly takes six hours? Maybe there were adhesions that the physician had to dissect for hours before they could even start the intended surgery. Payment schedules based on RVU’s do not take these circumstances into consideration, so modifier 22 was created.
Medical Billing requirements for Medicare's e-prescribe program are different this year from previous years. To avoid the E-prescribe penalties in 2013, providers must successfully e-prescribe 10 times on eligible claims for service dates of January 1, 2012 through June 30, 2012 and that are processed by July 29, 2012. This means the claims must fully negotiate the Medicare system and be paid prior to July 29, 2012, so it’s of paramount importance that providers make sure they are processing enough eligible claims to avoid the penalty. Furthermore, we recommend that claims be submitted before the end of May, because Medicare traditionally begins holding claims in June so they can be paid in the third quarter. Note that this suggested submission date is not a deadline leveled by Medicare, and there is no guarantee that claims submitted by the end of May will be processed by the end of July. There is also no way to tell what other issues may come up with individual claims that may prevent them from being processed. Therefore, professionals should try to e-prescribe on more than 10 claims to ensure that they meet the quantity threshold.
Medical Billing of Needle Electromyography (EMG) codes used to be fairly straightforward, but not since the beginning of 2012, when a fairly significant change was instituted to the way in which these procedures are coded.
For many practices, the question of whether or not to outsource the medical billing function has been on the back burner for some time. We say it’s time to take an objective look at the issue and bring yourself closer to making a decision that could be a shot in the arm for the financial health of your practice. Ask yourself just how much it costs you –in hard costs and soft costs—to keep the billing function in-house.
In the first two installments of this blog post about internet marketing for physicians, or inbound marketing as it’s called (SEO & Blogs, Social Media), we discussed the basics surrounding social media—Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+—and the importance of blogging and social media engagement in boosting the selling power of your website. We also discussed Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and the importance of having your website optimized so you rank on the first page of search results for specific keywords designed to attract your ideal patient.
By Ralph Sitler III, JD--As all medical providers know, an extensive knowledge of HIPAA and its various regulations is key to a successful and compliant practice. Maintaining confidentiality of your patients and their health information should always be foremost in your thoughts when you are running your practice. However, some areas of HIPAA can prove to be confusing. One of these areas concerns the confidentiality provisions for minors and the ability of their parents to access their protected health information. This article will give an overview of applicable provisions to help clarify this topic and help keep your practice compliant.
In the last installment of this blog article, we covered some of the basic components of an internet marketing program for physicians, such as SEO, Blogs, Organic Search and Long-tail Keywords. In this installment, we will discuss Social Media sites and their importance to your inbound marketing plan.
By Christine Moore, CPC, CGSC--Even though Modifier 58 and Modifier 78 have similar meaning and wording, there are a few tips that will help in choosing the correct global period modifier when billing claims.
You have probably heard about internet marketing for physicians in one form or another, whether it’s all the talk about social media--Facebook, Google+, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube, or whether it’s all the talk about SEO, Organic Search, Landing Pages, Conversions, and Blogs.
