The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ 3-year-old Patients over Paperwork initiative, designed to free doctors and non-physician practitioners to focus more on patient care, has led to the first major revision of evaluation and management (E&M) office visit codes in more than a quarter century. The changes are limited to medical office/outpatient services, but they are significant and will … Read More
With paying for value ascendant, diagnostic coding accuracy grows more crucial
Value-based payment has been steadily growing in healthcare in the past few years, thanks to programs such as the Hospital Inpatient Value-based Payment Program and the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS, part of the Quality Payment Program for physicians). More recently, this movement has gained new agency due to risk-based programs in the commercial payer market. For providers, these initiatives, … Read More
Getting it right for COVID-19 updates
In this article, Salud’s coding and compliance guru Jennifer Swindle guides you through the dos and don’ts of documenting service and coding for novel coronavirus cases. Read the article.
E/M coding changes require education and technology updates
Evaluation and management (E/M) services occur in the hospital as inpatient or observation visits. They also occur in nursing homes, physicians’ offices, emergency departments and even in the home. While there have been guidelines since 1995 and guidelines updated in 1997, both of which are still used, E/M services still have been vulnerable to fraud and abuse. In 2021, major … Read More
When it comes to coding-related claims denials, bring in the coders!
There are often unintentional disconnects between AR and HIM, as coders focus on coding guidelines, medical necessity, and supportive documentation, but may not be aware of specific written payer instructions, payer manuals or unique contracts. This not only can create unnecessary denials or improper code changes, but it also can result in tensions between the two departments. Read the article.