Practice Management Alert

The 11th hour is here for crucial charge master and super bill adjustments

As the end of 2004 draws near, your billing office "To Do" list must include several action items that can't wait another month:
  Order your 2005 CPT books and allow time before Jan. 1 to familiarize yourself with new codes applicable to your specialty.
  Make sure you have updated your charge master and super bill to reflect Medicare's 2005 Physician Fee Schedule and the new 2005 CPT codes, says Catherine Brink, CMM, CPC, president of HealthCare Resource Management Inc. in Spring Lake, N.J.
  Confirm that you have updated your charge master and super bill with all relevant 2005 ICD-9 code changes.

Fee schedule 101: If you haven't dragged yourself through the new Physician Fee Schedule yet, here's one key fact:
  The Medicare conversion factor for 2005 is 37.8975. This is up from last year's 37.3374, but actually less than the conversion factor in 2001, which was 38.2581.
 To view the final fee schedule published in the Federal Register on Nov. 15, visit
www.cms.hhs.gov/physicians/pfs/.

Next month: Stay tuned for more information on the 2005 Physician Fee Schedule and how it will affect you.