New legislation was introduced earlier this month that calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to develop an education program intended to help improve documentation in chiropractic Medicare claims, according to an American Chiropractic Association news release. The bill — called the “Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act of 2014” (pdf) — was […]
Coding Guidance for Smoking Cessation Counseling
The American Psychiatric Association provides a two-page resource discussing procedure coding for smoking cessation counseling. There are a number of different procedure codes that can be used to describe services provided to encourage changes in behavior of individuals who use tobacco. The resource identifies the CPT and HCPCS codes that describe smoking/tobacco cessation counseling, as […]
CPT Changes for 2015: What Radiation Oncologists Need to Know
In late August, the American Medical Association released the 2015 CPT coding changes for radiation oncology, and there were several significant changes announced. With less than a month until these changes go into effect, it is critical for oncology practices to understand what new codes were added, what codes were deleted and what codes were […]
Becker’s ASC Review Publishes Report on PGM Billing’s CPT Code Tool
Becker’s ASC Review, a leading ambulatory surgery center (ASC) publication, has covered PGM Billing’s recently announced free CPT code tool. The Becker’s ASC Review column provides five quick facts about the tool, which allows users to perform CPT code searches to obtain the Medicare relative value payment associated with a specified code and geographic region. […]
Free Orthopedic ICD-10 Resources
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, as part of its “Road to 10: The Small Physician Practice’s Route to ICD-10,” offers a series of valuable, free ICD-10 resources for orthopedic surgeons. These resources include the following: 1. Common orthopedics codes. An illustrative sample of high-impact diagnosis codes related to common conditions that you may […]
Register for Free Conference Call on Changes to Physician Quality Reporting Programs
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced it is hosting a free Medicare Learning Network Connects national provider call to provide an overview of changes to the physician quality reporting programs as per the 2015 physician fee schedule final rule. The call is scheduled to take place Tuesday, Dec. 2 from 1:30-3 p.m. […]
Significant Developments for Gastroenterology in Medicare’s 2015 Final Rules
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its final rule for physician reimbursement under Medicare or 2015, and it includes a few developments that should be of interest to gastroenterologists. According to an American Gastroenterological Association report, highlights include the following: CMS has delayed the valuation of the lower gastrointestinal endoscopy codes […]
Free Medicare Resource: Appeals Process Podcast
A free 15-minute podcast on the Medicare appeals process is now available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). According to CMS, the podcast is designed to provide education on the five levels of claim appeals in original Medicare (Medicare Part A and Part B). It includes details explaining how the Medicare appeals […]
American Academy of Family Physicians Publishes Summary of 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule
Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final version of its 2015 Medicare physician fee schedule. As a service to family physicians, the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) has published a 16-page summary of the nearly 1,200-page final rule. The summary is intended to note the highlights of the […]
Medicare’s Final 2015 ASC Payment Rule Adds 11 Spine Procedures to Payable List
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released its final 2015 ambulatory surgery center (ASC) payment rule (pdf), according to an ASC Association report. In the final rule, CMS finalized the addition of the following 11 spine codes to the ASC-payable list: 22551 — Neck spine fuse&remov bel c2 22554 — Neck spine […]