Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCO

Medicare Telehealth Coding as of April 30

May 1, 2020June 28, 2022Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

Healthcare providers are granted even more latitude for use of telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency. On a Friday, at month-end, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) kindly dropped another bomb on us: more t… For more, read here: AAPC Blog

Using Modifier 95 for Telehealth Makes Cents

April 27, 2020June 28, 2022Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

Capture full payment for remote visits during the PHE for COVID-19. An interim final rule published in the April 6, 2020, Federal Register explains how to bill telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE). The final rule goes … For more, read here: AAPC Blog

Check Your FESS Claims for Improper Payment Adjustments

February 11, 2020June 28, 2022Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

MACs may be applying the multiple endoscopy rule incorrectly. In the 2020 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) Final Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the proposal to apply the special rule for multiple endosco… For more, read here: AAPC Blog

New Medicare Cards Initiate Phishing Scam

January 23, 2020June 28, 2022Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

Medicare patients are receiving calls from telephone solicitors who are phishing for private identification information for nefarious purposes. The ruse is facilitated by the issuance of new Medicare cards. Here’s How the Scam Goes Down The callers c… For more, read here: AAPC Blog

New Patient E/M Denials: Mystery Solved

January 21, 2020June 28, 2022Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

New patient evaluation and management (E/M) claims are being denied when the patient was previously seen by a specialty physician assistant or specialty nurse practitioner on staff. This is happening when another provider of a different specialty in t… For more, read here: AAPC Blog

Multiple Endoscopy Rule Examples

January 13, 2020June 28, 2022Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

In my last blog “Special Rules Apply to Endoscopic Sinus Surgeries,” I discussed the change to the Multiple Endoscopy Rule for multiple surgeries when performed within the family of endoscopic sinus codes. How Does the Multiple Endoscopy Rule Affect … For more, read here: AAPC Blog

Special Rules Apply to Endoscopic Sinus Surgeries

January 9, 2020December 4, 2020Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

The multiple surgery calculation for nasal endoscopy codes is changed when multiple nasal endoscopies are performed in the same session on the same day. For Calendar Year 2020, instead of paying the multiple surgeries at 50 percent, surgeons will be … For more, read here: AAPC Blog

Helping Substance Abusers Via Telemedicine

December 26, 2019December 4, 2020Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) missed its deadline for creating regulations for a special registration process for prescribing controlled substances via telemedicine. What Is the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act? T… For more, read here: AAPC Blog

OIG Expects to Recover $5.9B in Healthcare Fraud

December 17, 2019December 4, 2020Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) expects a banner year in recoveries stemming from fraud investigations and audits. According to the OIG semiannual report, released Dec. 2, the U.S. Department of Health and Human services (HHS) stands to recoup a… For more, read here: AAPC Blog

Prevent Medicare Claims Denials in 2020

December 10, 2019December 4, 2020Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CENTC, CPCONo Comments

Medicare has been issuing beneficiaries new member cards with Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBI) in place of Social Security Numbers (SSNs) for more than two years. 2019 was a phase-in period when Medicare would accept either a beneficiary’s Socia… For more, read here: AAPC Blog