# Bell Curves



## taurus7694 (Mar 30, 2018)

Hi - My office is currently using a specific software for our Bell Curves, but it doesn't seem to capture all the CPTs and/or specialty clinics that we need.  I am looking for suggestions on software everyone uses to generate Bell Curve reports.  Thank you.


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## Pam Brooks (Mar 30, 2018)

I'm kind of a geek......I run my own charge reports, drop them into Excel and then use CMS or MGMA data to compare bell curves.  Yes, it's a lot of work, but that's how I do it.


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## taurus7694 (Mar 30, 2018)

Thank you.  I will try that.  We currently use E/M ProCheck and plug in our data and it generates the Bell Curves for us.  I was just wondering what else was out there that would have all the code ranges and specialties that we need.  Thanks again.


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## ellzeycoding (Mar 30, 2018)

Let me tell you how to do this... 

The data is obtained from here...

https://www.cms.gov/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/MedicareFeeforSvcPartsAB/MedicareUtilizationforPartB.html

Towards the bottom is E/M utilization by specialty

https://www.cms.gov/apps/ama/license.asp?file=/Research-Statistics-Data-and-Systems/Statistics-Trends-and-Reports/MedicareFeeforSvcPartsAB/Downloads/EMSpecialty2016.pdf

Lets look at Cardiology as an example...

Open this file and look for a code range 99201 -99205 and note the allowed services by specialty for each code in a series.  

Scroll through the list and write down what you see

Cardiology 99201 = 2,242
Cardiology 99202 = 24,289
Cardiology 99203 = 227,925
Cardiology 99204 = 798,025
Cardiology 99205 = 260,810

Now add them all together = 1,313,291

Last, divide each code by the total and multiply by 100 to get the percentage

Cardiology 99201 = 2,242/1,313,291 x 100 = 0.17%
Cardiology 99202 = 24,289/1,313,291 x 100 = 1.85%
Cardiology 99203 = 227,925/1,313,291 x 100 = 17.36%
Cardiology 99204 = 798,025/1,313,291 x 100 = 60.77%
Cardiology 99205 = 260,810/1,313,291 x 100 = 19.86%

Added all together gets to 100%  

Now stick them in *Microsoft Excel* and graph them.

To make this easier, I created an Excel spreadsheet you can download that has all of the calculations ready to go...  

In the light blue shaded areas enter the CPT code range (i.e., 99201 to 99205).  And then enter the numbers you get from the CMS download above (allowables per specialty for each code)

In the yellow shaded, areas, you enter the numbers for YOUR PRACTICE. that you are comparing to the national average.

It will graph and compare for you!


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## taurus7694 (Apr 12, 2018)

Thank you so much!!  I will give this a try and see if it works better than our current method.


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## Spring2Code (Apr 26, 2018)

Have you checked out AAPC's free E/M tool under the networking tab? I used it in the past.


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