Understanding Billing Requirements for Caregiver Training Services

Published: Wed, 05/15/24

Updated: Wed, 05/15/24

Link to all things medical coding & billing

Understanding Billing Requirements for Caregiver Training Services

As part of the Jan. 1, 2024 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) guidelines, caregiver training services (CTS) codes were listed as billable services if provided by physicians and non-physician practitioners (NPPs). I thought I would revisit these codes with greater specificity, as I am seeing some questions come up related to lack of provider...

Consideration postponed for new billing codes for prior authorization

Medical experts have put on hold a proposal to create new billing codes for prior authorizations. The American Medical Association’s CPT (current procedural terminology) Editorial Panel was scheduled to meet May 9 to 11. The agenda included a proposal to create new codes that physicians could use to bill for time spent requesting approval to treat patients.

Medicare Advantage risk assessments driving billions in costs each year

Medicare Advantage plans have come under fire for upcoding that can increase the payouts they receive, and regulators point to health risk assessments as a likely culprit in this increase in coding intensity. A new study published this week in Health Affairs adds to the body of evidence around these assessments. The analysis, led by researchers at Brown University, dug into encounter data from 2019 and found that...

Defenses Against Medicare Audits Based on Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): Part III

Is there an arms race involving using technology for submitting claims and auditing them? In one example, an electronic health record system was deployed that would increase reimbursements. It would do this by inserting into patient charts default templates that allowed physicians and others to copy in information from patient records – assuming, of course, that...

Telehealth boosts outcomes, spending, as regulatory flexibilities are in question

The rapid adoption of telehealth services, accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has had a positive result on outcomes and resulted in a boost in healthcare spending, according to a report in Health Affairs. The researchers investigated the relationship between the adoption of telemedicine and its impact on costs and quality of care across various health systems.

Diagnosis Pitfalls to Look for When Seeking to Avoid Denials

A recent study from the healthcare solutions company Premier indicated that $19.7 billion is what hospitals and health systems are spending annually on handling and appealing denials. Yes, that is “billions,” with a “B.” There are several reasons claim denials can occur, including but not limited to medical necessity, claim edits, pre-authorization, and others...

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