This week’s code spotlight highlights the social determinants of health codes that deal with many factors including prescribed medications or a patient’s BMI. Read below for more information on some of the benefits of including social determinants of health in reporting. As the health care industry sees an increase of risk adjustment coding, the importance…
Have you started preparing for the new 2021 E/M changes? It is never too early as much of healthcare is already changing. Read below for more information on what has prompted the changes in the healthcare system. With all that 2020 has already brought to the table and the changes it has prompted in the…
During these times of social distancing, isolation, businesses being shut down, and employees being laid off, it is hard for a lot of people to feel the same fulfillment they did just a few months ago and self-pity can set in quickly. Perhaps you believe in the theory that there is nothing better for self-pity…
As the Risk Adjustment payment models become more and more commonplace, it is important that we not forget about this when coding during our current public health emergency (PHE). Read below to find out more about hierarchical condition categories. Hierarchical condition categories, or HCC’s, are assigned to diagnosis codes and reflect an aggregated value that…
Great documentation is going to be key during these uncertain times of COVID-19. For any clinician who has gone through an audit, chances are their auditors have said “tell me a good story” more than once during the process. Telling a good story is so important and often times even something that seems obvious to…
Medicare now recognizes the important work that primary care physicians do when it comes to preventive screenings in older patients. Is your practice currently following the annual wellness visits for Medicare beneficiaries? Read below to find out the 3 steps to add annual Medicare wellness visits in your practice! Does your practice currently conduct annual…
So many of us are now faced with not only the challenges associated with working from home but having the whole family home as well. There are daily news stories about how to cope with kids who want to go see their friends, work-out routines without gym equipment, and virtual dance parties streamed live via…
CMS has released a second emergency code for the testing of CORVID-19. To find out more about this update, read the article below and click on the links to see how you are covered. As of Friday, March 6th, CMS released a second emergency code for CORVID-19 testing. Unlike HCPCS code U0001, which was released…
February is Heart Health Awareness Month, so we all wear red and talk about our hearts, but what are we doing every day to make sure we are keeping it healthy? How many hours each day, week, month do we each spend at our desks without so much as a break to get water? If…
In a recent release of 2018 benchmarks regarding modifiers 76, 77 and 79, the data of payment vs denials is staggering. For instance, a total of 159 codes reported with 91 and 249 codes that were reported using modifier 77 all had a 100% denial rate. Compared to the 952 codes that were denied when…