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General Surgery Coding Alert

Beware:

Medicare's '3-Day Payment Window' Could Impact Your Practice

Published on Sun Jan 16, 2011

Ownership is the key for general surgeons.Did you know that one of the least publicized changes in the 2012 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule could be one of the costliest if it applies to you? That's the word from Marc Hartstein, deputy director of the Hospital and Ambulatory Policy Group at CMS, who spoke about the "three-day payment window" during the CPT® 2012 Annual Symposium in Chicago on Nov. 16.Hospital Ownership Triggers RuleIf a Medicare patient has services furnished in a facility wholly owned or operated by a hospital and then gets admitted to that hospital within three days, those prior services are bundled into the patient's hospital stay. This rule has been in place since June 2010 -- however, CMS tweaks the rule effective July 1, 2012, and now it may impact you more.Here's why: If you're in a physician practice that's owned or operated by a hospital and you treat [...]
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