The healthcare workplace has became a more challenging environment especially for medical coders, making it more imperative for even CPCs to take their career to the next level. After all, better equipped personnel for the job have greater chances of keeping it while positioning themselves for more career advancement opportunities and a bigger paycheck.
It all starts with your decision to invest on your training and education for professional growth.
If you have been a medical coder for at least a couple a years and feel as if you are not making any headway, a Certified Evaluation and Management Coder (CEMC™) Credential could just be what you need to help you get ahead.
A CEMC™ is an AAPC seal that states you are a cut above the rest. This is why coders all over the country aspire for this gold standard. It is an industry-recognized prerequisite to boosting your career as coder!
We at CodingCert bring you closer to this standard of excellence. Gather your colleagues to host a 3-day onsite camp in your facility!
What is an On-Site Training Camp?
The On-Site Training Camp is an intensive 3-day course where CodingCert customizes a program and brings a speaker directly to your office. You and your team can prepare for the certification exam from the comforts of your facility.
Our AAPC-certified instructors will give you the roadmap so your Team can pass the AAPC’s CEMC™ Exam on your first 1st try by preparing you to hurdle the following:
The Certified Evaluation and Management Coder exam was developed by a team of leading E/M coding professionals. Those coders with sufficient experience and expertise in E/M coding are encouraged to sit for the CEMC™ exam.
Our AAPC-certified instructors will give you the roadmap so your Team can pass the AAPC’s CEMC™ Exam on your first 1st try by preparing you to hurdle the following:
- The three key components with emphasis on MDM and other subjective aspects of the Documentation Guidelines
- Rules and regulations of Medicare billing including (but not limited to) incident to, teaching situations, shared visits, consultations, and global surgery
- Coding per NCCI, ICD-9-CM, CPT® Modifiers and both the 1995 and 1997 Documentation Guidelines
- Time-based coding
- Risk assessment, including (but not limited to) the ability to benchmark, identity problematic situations and missed billing opportunities
- Medical terminology
- Anatomy and physiology”
Get Paid For Telecare Services Without A Hassle
Who took the call? How long did the consultation take place? Never miss to document these components.
Think twice when you’re billing for consultation services delivered over the phone because Medicare considers them to be noncovered services. This means that Medicare will most likely not reimburse your claim, nor will most commercial payers. If you want a way around this, you just might have a chance on a case-to-case basis, but you should follow some specific guidelines.
Consider this scenario: An established patient with a history of colds and sinusitis calls his physician’s office to confer about new acute sinusitis symptoms. The nurse, who takes the phone call, obtains a history, assesses the patient’s condition. She also talks to the otolaryngologist who decides to prescribe an antibiotic. The call lasts 24 minutes.
To report the service, you should code 98968 (Telephone assessment and management service provided by a qualified nonphysician health care professional to an established patient, parent, or guardian not originating from a related assessment and management service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an assessment and management service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment; 21-30 minutes of medical discussion) based on time and personnel indicated in the scenario. On the other hand, you shouldn’t report this service if an appointment is scheduled to evaluate the patient before treatment is determined.
Telecare Services May Involve Physicians and Nonphysicians
If you’re still thinking of codes 99371-99373 (Telephone call by a physician to patient or for consultation or medical management or for coordinating medical management with other healthcare professionals …) for your telecare services, give it up. A new set of codes for telephone call consultations replaced the old one in 2008:
· 99441 — Telephone evaluation and management service provided by a physician to an established patient, parent, or guardian not originating from a related E/M service provided within the previous 7 days nor leading to an E/M service or procedure within the next 24 hours or soonest available appointment; 5-10 minutes of medical discussion
· 99442 — … 11 to 20 minutes of medical discussion
· 99443 — … 21 to 30 minutes of medical discussion.
For nonphysician telephone services you should use 98966-98968 (Non-face-to-face nonphysician telephone services), which should apply for telecare services performed by “qualified non-physician healthcare professionals” (see previous scenario).
Medicare may not pay for these services, but some commercial carriers agree to. CMS published relative value units (RVUs) that you can use as payment guide for nonMedicare plans (e.g., $13.62 for 99441and 98966 (0.40 nonfacility RVUs multiplied by the 2012 conversion rate of 34.0376).
Don’t forget: It’s a must for the provider who took the call to document the phone conversation. Document it like an inpatient visit, and note the time spent. The patient must initiate the phone call in order for the provider to bill the service.
Time-related codes like 99441-99443 could be part of your Certified Evaluation and Management Coder (CEMC™) exam.
Proper use of anesthesia-specific modifiers is just one of the many subjects you should prep for when taking the Certified Anesthesia Coder exam developed by the AAPC. If you want a Certified Evaluation and Management Coder (CEMC™) credential call our certification specialists today at tel. no. 866-458-2962.
