Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

Your whole staff should be up to speed on coding and reimbursement issues. But you should also have one person who serves as a Medicare "quarterback," says Elizabeth Woodcock, director of knowledge management for Physician Practice Inc. in Atlanta.

That person should understand the difference between coding and reimbursement, because "you can do the coding right, but you're still not going to get reimbursed for it," Woodcock says. Your practice's expert should follow every local medical review policy, every program memorandum, and every National Correct Coding Initiative edit that pertains to your specialty.

He or she is "the one in the staff meeting who says, 'Medicare just announced so-and-so,'" Woodcock says. This should be "either the person who is working Medicare claims or it's the team leader for those people who are processing Medicare claims."