April 2, 2010 |
Issue No. 1 | |
|
|
|
|
Newsletter Archive
|
Want to read a back issue of IPC's newsletter?
Click here! |
|
Training Sessions
|
|
During May and June we are hosting mandatory front desk training sessions for your office. The purpose of these sessions is to review proper front desk procedures and promote effective usage of software.
|
| Meet Our Staff
|
|
Kristen joined us after working as an A/R Specialist in the Chicagoland area. She has a degree in Psychology from Western Michigan University as well as a certificate in Billing and Coding. Besides working on A/R Kristen also helps train on using Scheduler. She is excited to join the IPC Billing team and looks forward to working with everyone!
|
|
Greetings!
IPC would like to blow its own horn!
"Days in A/R" is a common measure of billing effectiveness - that is, how quickly claims are converted from charges into payments. The
most recent statistics published by the Medical Group Management Association has
a range of 31 days (family practice) to 41 days (orthopaedics), with most other specialties somewhere in-between. Across all clients, IPC has about 25 days in A/R.
Such a low Days in A/R doesn't happen by accident. Our employees work hard to keep your accounts current. We encourage you to share our success with any of your colleagues looking for medical billing options. We reward existing clients for a successful referral.
|
| Healthcare Reform Provisions Kick in Over 10 Years |
|
Many of the provisions included in the healthcare
reform legislation approved Sunday--and the bill that adds fixes to that measure
that was sent to the Senate--would take place not immediately, but along a
10-year timeline through 2020. Here's a glimpse of how that timeline rolls out:
2010
Adults with pre-existing conditions who have been uninsured for
at least six months can enroll in a temporary high risk health insurance pool
and receive subsidized premiums--beginning three months after the bill's
passage. (The pools expire when exchanges are implemented in 2014.)
All health insurance plans are to offer dependent coverage for
children through age 26; insurers are prohibited from denying coverage to
children because of pre existing health problems.
Insurance companies can no longer put lifetime dollar limits on
coverage and cancel policies--except in cases of fraud.
Tax credits will be provided to help small businesses with 25
employees or fewer to get and keep coverage for these employees.
The Medicare "doughnut hole," in which beneficiaries had to pay
full cost of their prescription drugs, begins narrowing by providing a $250
rebate this year to those in the gap, which starts this year after they have
spent $2,830. The doughnut hole fully closes by 2020.
Indoor tanning has a 10% sales tax.
Click here to read changes through 2020
Janice Simmons, for HealthLeaders
Media , March 23, 2010
Janice Simmons is a senior
editor and Washington, DC, correspondent for HealthLeaders Media Online.
| |
|
|
| Clarification on the Use of Prolonged Care Procedure Codes |
With the discontinuance of consultation codes for services provided
January 1, 2010, and after, there have been many questions concerning
the use of prolonged care procedure codes. In order to use a prolonged
care code (99354 and 99355 for outpatient or 99356 and 99357 for
facility), a provider must document the total of the face-to-face time
(including the visit) spent with the patient to support the use of the
procedure code. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)
Internet Only Manual (IOM) Publication 100-04, Chapter 12, Section
30.6.15 discusses the use of prolonged services and provides a chart
showing the face-to-face threshold times required. This section also
provides examples of when a prolonged care code is and is not
appropriate.
Click here to continue reading
|
Medicaid Enrollment: June 2009 Data Snapshot
An analysis from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured
|
This analysis finds that, with the country in a deep recession, nearly 3.3
million more people were enrolled in state Medicaid programs in June 2009
compared to the previous June. It was the biggest ever one-year increase in
terms of absolute numbers, and boosted the June monthly Medicaid enrollment by
7.5 percent to 46.9 million people nationally.
It was the first time
since the early 1990s that every state experienced an increase in Medicaid
enrollment, and in 32 states enrollment grew at least twice as fast as the year
before, according to the analysis, which includes data breakouts by state.
The increase in enrollment reflects the role that Medicaid plays in
reducing the numbers of people who become uninsured when the economy falters,
with many people turning to the program for help after being laid off and losing
their employer-based health insurance. Millions more who were not eligible for
Medicaid likely joined the ranks of the nation's uninsured.
At a state level Michigan felt an even higher impact than the rest of the nation. In June 2009 roughly 1,645,500 Michigan residents were enrolled in Medicaid.
Publication Number:
8050
Publish Date: 2010-02-18
|
 Clarification on the Use of Prolonged Care Procedure Codes Continued |
Providers choose the procedure code that most accurately reflects their
services in one of two ways. Providers can document the level of the
history, exam, and medical decision making. In order to evaluate whether
a prolonged care code is appropriate, the documentation must show the
total face-to-face time (including the visit) the physician or
non-physician practitioner spent with the patient (does not have to be
continuous), and that total time is used to determine whether a
prolonged care code is appropriate. Time the patient spends away from
the provider does not count toward the use of a prolonged care procedure
code.
The other way a provider may choose a procedure code is based on time
when more than 50% of the face-to-face time in the office or time spent
on the floor or unit in a facility is spent in counseling and/or
coordination of care. When assessing whether a prolonged care code is
appropriate, again only the total face-to-face time (including the
visit) spent with the patient is used. When assessing the use of
prolonged care codes when time has been used to document the service,
then only the highest level of service in the family of codes may be
used. In a facility, time spent on the floor or unit in providing the
service is not counted toward the use of the prolonged care codes. Time
spent in gathering information from the family or discussing the medical
decision options with the family not in the presence of the patient
does not count toward the use of prolonged care codes.
WPS Medicare Part B Legacy eNews for Monday, February 1, 2010
|
| About Us |
If you have any questions regarding this newsletter, you can contact us at:
Mary Ellen Duffy med@ipcbilling.com Patricia Nevala pat@ipcbilling.comor call us at 616-459-6867 or 800-606-1455
Please feel free to forward this newsletter to your staff and peers.
Innovative Practice Concepts, LLC -- A full service medical billing company
Your Bottom Line is our Top Priority!
|
|
|
|
|
|
