Advanced Search

Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

Denial Management:

Make Sure Practitioner Specialty Codes Are Accurate

Published on Wed Jul 25, 2012

Tip: Check with your MAC to make sure your physicians are entered properly.If you report a new patient code and your MAC rejects it, stating that the patient is already established at your practice, you could be facing a problem that began when you enrolled your physician in Medicare. Doctors who are assigned to the wrong specialties in Medicare's systems can create a host of billing problems down the line.That's the word from a June 27 NGS Medicare "Ask the Contractor" teleconference, in which a caller presented the following scenario: Her internal medicine physician saw a new patient and reported a code from the 99201-99205 series. However, the MAC denied the claim saying that it did not meet new patient qualifications since the practice's cardiologist had seen the patient in the past."That should normally be a new patient visit as long as the doctors are of different specialties," said NGS's [...]
You’ve reached your limit of free articles. Already a subscriber? Log in.
Not a subscriber? Subscribe today to continue reading this article. Plus, you’ll get:
  • Simple explanations of current healthcare regulations and payer programs
  • Real-world reporting scenarios solved by our expert coders
  • Industry news, such as MAC and RAC activities, the OIG Work Plan, and CERT reports
  • Instant access to every article ever published in your eNewsletter
  • 6 annual AAPC-approved CEUs*
  • The latest updates for CPT®, ICD-10-CM, HCPCS Level II, NCCI edits, modifiers, compliance, technology, practice management, and more
*CEUs available with select eNewsletters.

Other Articles in this issue of

Podiatry Coding & Billing Alert

View All