hile many provider groups offer some imaging services in their offices, others may rely on external imaging centers. When the provider reviews images performed by an external source (e.g., independent imaging center), that is typically referred to as an overread or a re-read. Properly reporting that work depends on a variety of factors as discussed in this article.

Find answers to some questions asked by attendees of our recent webinar regarding the changes released by the AMA in their March 9, 2021 Errata and Technical Corrections document in relation to Evaluation & Management (E/M).

Question: Recently my claims to Medicare are being denied when I submit a secondary diagnosis code. I’ve heard that this is happening in several states including Washington, California, and New York. Has there been a recent change in what secondary diagnosis codes are allowed?

On March 9, 2021, the American Medical Association (AMA) announced some pretty significant changes in relation to reporting Evaluation and Management (E/M) services, particularly for Office or Other Outpatient Services (99202-99215). The AMA Editorial Panel had previously met to discuss how to address concerns and made changes surrounding Office or Other Outpatient Services which are retroactive to January 1, 2021. Learn more about those changes in this article.

This article discusses WHY CMS decided to create code G2212 to be used with prolonged office Evaluation and Management (E/M) services instead of code 99417 as of January 1, 2021. The proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule stated that code 99417 would be used so it is essential to understand why they made this change to avoid potential problems with billing these services.

On January 5, 2021, H.R. 7898 was signed into law by President Trump. This new law modifies the HITECH Act such that when an organization experiences a breach, fines and/or penalties may be reduced if (for at least a year) they have instituted “recognized security practices” as defined within the law.

When the proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule came out last year, it really got everyone worried. In a time where we are all facing issues related to COVID, this seemed like a really big problem. Professional organizations lobbied and everyone tried to stop the proposed changes, and the 10.2% decrease didn’t happen, but other changes will still be taking place. So how bad is it really and how will it affect your organization?