Medical Technology is Making Humanism a Lost Art

Jan 31, 2012
In the Coding Edge article, Medical Technology is Making Humanism a Lost Art – New Health care regulations may help bring humanity back to medicine, Lynn Berry, PT, CPC describes new federal rules and regulations including the HCAHPS survey questions, the new rules for ACOs, and the new Value-Based Modifier (all of which contain measures of the patient experience) which are now recognized as key elements of successful patient treatment.

Innovative And Radical Liver Surgery—EX VIVO Resection—Performed By UC-San Diego Surgeon

Jan 06, 2012
A team led by Alan Hemming, MD, transplant surgeon at UC San Diego Health System, has successfully performed the west coast’s first ex-vivo liver resection, a radical procedure to completely remove and reconstruct a diseased liver and re-implant it without any tumors.

Tips for Successfully Monitoring Your Orthopaedic Providers’ Services - AAOS Webinar

Jan 04, 2012
On June 14, 2012, Kristi Stumpf, TCN Orthopaedic Coder will be a presenting at an American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons (AAOS) sponsored webinar.

CPT 2012 Offers Up Some Unpleasant Surprises for Orthopaedic Surgeons

Jan 03, 2012
The New Year is upon us, and it’s time for orthopaedic practices need to carefully review the additions, deletions, and revisions to the CPT manual. Be sure to alert your surgeons to the new combination codes for spinal arthrodesis and editorial changes that impact reporting of commonly performed arthroscopic knee procedures, but be forewarned- they won’t be happy as these changes reduce reimbursements for these procedures.

Medicare’s's National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) New Edit Pairs and Terminiations

Dec 20, 2011
Frank Cohen, a healthcare statistician just completed his analysis of the NCCI 18.0 database and comparative analysis between this and last quarter’s 17.3 release.

If an Auditor Knocks, Don’t Doctor Your Medical Records

Dec 15, 2011
Learn from the experience of these two physical therapists in Pocatello. They were audited by a Medicare "program integrity contractor" and asked to produce random patient records

OIG Tells Congress Over $5 Billion Recovered

Dec 09, 2011
In its Semiannual Report to Congress, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) announced 2011 exclusions of 2,662 individuals and entities from participation in federal health care programs, and expected recoveries of approximately $5.2 billion in audit and investigative receivables.

CMS 3 Day Rule for Physician Services - Billing Complexities (Opinion)

Dec 09, 2011
CMS 3 Day Rile for Physician Services at askleslie.net. The post provides interesting and important opinion about the CMS 3 Day Rule for Physician Services when the physician practice is owned or controlled by the hospital as of 1/1/2012

Houston Internist Gets 70 Months + $3.8m FINE for Unbundling and Billing for Services Not Done

Nov 22, 2011
An certified internist in Houston was nailed for mail fraud for "unbundling" his bills to insurance companies.

Office Manager and Doctor Sentenced for Defrauding Medicaid & Medicare of $3 Million

Nov 22, 2011
The Office Manager plead guilty to fraud charges of knowingly billing for services that were not provided and was sentenced to a fine of $50,000 and 200 hours of community service.