March/2015
In This Issue
Employee Spotlight
Experts in Podiatry Billing
CO-151
Quick Links
Sarah Raker
Billing Specialist
Employee Spotlight:
Sarah Raker


 

ABOUT ME:


 

My husband, Jarret, and I have been married for 8 years (together for 13!) and we are settled in Lee's Summit with our two young daughters, ages 1 and 4.  The girls keep us moving at all times and we love spending as much time as we can with them and the rest of our very large extended family. 


 

FUN(NY) FACTS:


 

* On my free evenings, you can find me baking, working on a project for the girls or our house, entertaining my newfound hobby of sewing, or hosting friends for dinners or barbecues.


* I can spell nearly any word backward on the spot.


* I grew up in a farming town in Missouri and attended a small private school with a class of only 21 kids; some of my best friends today are from that class and also live in the Kansas City area.


 

MY GOALS:


 

I have been with SMB for 5 years and I absolutely love my job.  I take my role as a biller very seriously and strive to exceed expectations of my practices.  My goals are to make sure my doctors receive the reimbursements they deserve and to feel confident in my ability to take care of their billing needs, no matter the issue that arises.  I aim to maintain a clear line of communication with each practice and relay any updates or developments relative to their business. 


 

 


 

 
Dear SMB Clients, 

Happy Spring from everyone at SMB.  In this newsletter, we highlight billing specialist,Sarah Raker, insider information on common denial of CO-151 and exhibit how SMB provides a first-class service to our podiatrists.  We hope you enjoy the newsletter and the warmer weather heading our way!


Sincerely,
SMB Medical Billing
The Experts in Podiatry Billing
By: Chad Bixler
Chad
Chad Bixler
Business Development

 

 

SMB Medical Billing has been in business since 2001.  We service hundreds of podiatry practices across every CMS region and State.  We work with every type of Podiatry Practice from Surgical and Office-based Practices to the Nursing and Home-based Practices.

 

 All SMB's workers are located in the United States and are US Citizens.  Thus, you never have to worry about your PMI being collected by some rouge group or nation.  Your data is safe with SMB.

 

This intense level of operations has allowed SMB to become experts at Podiatry Medical Billing.

 

On our web page - podiatry-billing-experts.com - the following examples of how SMB's expertise has benefited our clients are explained:

 

1) Peace of Mind - Relief from Audit Fears

2) Improving Patient Relationships

3) Expand Practice

4) Achieve a Lifestyle Equilibrium

 

And many other examples are also explained.

 

Perhaps you are aware of a friend whose podiatry practice would benefit from SMB's billing expertise.  Do them a favor and point them in the direction of podiatry-billing-expertise.com.

 

 

 

Watch Out For This Common Denial

By: Cheryl Sands

Cheryl Sands
Senior Vice President

 

CO-151 ---Payment adjusted because the payer deems the information submitted does not support this many/frequency of services.

 

This is a very common denial that we see and it is so easy to prevent this from happening.  This denial is, of course, "over-utilization" of routine foot care.  In simplest terms, "seeing the patient before the 61 days that Medicare allows for the nail debridement or callous work to be done."

 

We all know that Medicare (if deemed medically necessary) will pay for routine foot care every 61 days.  However, you would be surprised how often this rule is ignored.  Many patients are seen "too soon" from their last routine foot care appointment and the services are thus denied.  Be sure and remind those doing your scheduling to be vigilant about checking when the patient was last seen for this type of service.   It is wise to not only look back at the last time you saw them, but to also ask the patient if they have seen another provider within 61 days for this service.  Services will deny if a patient has seen another provider for routine foot care and fails to tell you about it.

 

Correct scheduling is a very easy way to ensure you are paid for all of your time and effort spent with patients.

 

 

 
As always, thank you for taking time to read our newsletter.  If you have a topic you would like us to cover in our upcoming newsletter, please contact Chad at chad@smbmedicalbilling.com.
 
Sincerely,
 
SMB Medical Billing