Visit here often to discover our latest news, articles, and events.
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CMS Finalizes One-Year ICD-10 Delay
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its proposal to delay ICD-10 compliance one year until October 1, 2014
TCI/ECP Named "Top Workplaces 2012" in the Region
In a survey conducted by Workplace Dynamics LLC, TCI/ECP was named a "Top Workplaces 2012" for the second time in two years.
Supreme Court upholds Affordable Care Act; expect more patients at your practice
In a surprise decision, the Supreme Court has upheld almost all of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA), opening the pathway for more patients to flood your office with appointments.
Deadline Nears For Evidence Of 5010 Compliance
You have less than two months until your private payers and CMS stop accepting non-compliant HIPAA 5010 claims.
Report e-RX Exemptions By June 30
You must report a hardship exemption by June 30 or e-prescribe at least 10 times by that date to avoid a 1.5% Medicare pay cut starting Jan. 1, 2013.
ICD-10 Code Freeze
CMS and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are officially proposing no changes to the ICD-9-CM or ICD-10-CM code sets for 2013.
Transition to HIPAA 5010 Timeline
ECP is proactively preparing for the transition to 5010. We are committed to servicing our healthcare providers in helping them meet the transaction requirements of all payers, government and commercial. ECP plans to have all testing completed by the end of second quarter 2011.
ECP / TCI Named "Top Workplaces 2011" in Region
Cincinnati, OH – 20 June 2011 – The Consult, Inc (TCI), a Cincinnati-based national healthcare business services provider, has been named a “Top Workplaces 2011” in Greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky, based on employee surveys conducted by Workplace Dynamics LLC.
TCI/ECP Adopts a 3rd Grade Class In Price Hill
TCI/ECP Have have adopted the 3rd grade class at Oyler Elementary in Price Hill. Read more about it on page 4 of the Delhi-Price Hill Press July Issue.
ECP Payer Code List Update
ECP has completed a major overhaul of our professional and institutional payer code list. This project will allow ECP clients to send to many additional payers. It will also help reduce the number of payer code related errors on claims sent to ECP.
Electronic Eligibility Verification
ECP has completed version 1 of our Real-Time Electronic Eligibility Verification. Effective January 1, 2011, there will be a charge of $.20 per inquiry for this service and enrollment may be required for certain payers. Please contact us for further information.
EDI Enrollment
ECP assists all new clients in getting their EDI enrollment set up for Medicare, therefore we urge providers to delete old practice locations from their enrollment. Contact Brigott Elkins belkins@4ecp.com or (800) 327-1213 for more information.
Electronic Eligibility Verification
Electronic Eligibility Verification (EEV) is now available to our clients. EEV saves time and money by ensuring that a patient has coverage before service is rendered. Verifying a patient’s eligibility provides you cleaner claims and faster reimbursement. Traditional eligibility verification by phone is too time consuming and does not provide a paper trail for providers. Electronic Eligibility Verification provides the necessary paper trail, while leaving your phone lines and office staff available for patients. Contact Brigott Elkins belkins@4ecp.com or (800) 327-1213 for more information.
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You and your peers aren't happy with CMS's latest revalidation cycle, which will require just about everyone to revalidate again by March 23, 2013. But there is good news...A major new feature could let you revalidate in minutes online.
As reported by the program's trustees, the Medicare Trust fund will become bankrupt in 2024 due to a sluggish economy, health care cost increases and tax breaks.
To avoid a 1% pay cut in 2012, make sure you meet the e-prescribing deadline in the following 4 steps.
A recent survey by Part B News shows that providers agree that the ICD-10 switch is important and deserves special attention but they rank it low on their list of competing priorities.
Enrollment in Medicare will soon include “limited” screening for most physicians and non-physician practitioners.
Despite proper billing, payments for new annual wellness visits may not be paid until mid-to-late March.
Several Medicare Administrative Contractors are reprocessing claims for annual wellness visits, and reviews are mixed on the claims that were considered wrongfully denied.
Immunization billing will be changing in 2011, as new codes take effect for Medicare and pediatric patients on the private-payer side.
Make sure your reimbursements are not disrupted when coding standards change Oct. 1, 2013 by using a process recommended by CMS.
There When a physician or other practitioner is no longer part of your practice, it’s important to update the group’s enrollment records. This will protect against potential problems related to billing.
The ZPIC, which is similar to RAC, focuses on billing trends and patterns of providers who bill higher for Medicare services than most of the other providers in an area.
The Ohio State Medical Association, the American Medical Association and other physician groups have argued that physicians didn’t meet the intended definition of a creditor, and therefore should not be subject to the Red Flag Rule.
There is a perfect storm brewing. There are Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) in every state in the U.S. now along with a renewed focus on healthcare fraud by many institutions and by the public in general. The stage is set so be prepared!
According to HHS' National Coordinator for Health Information Technology David Blumenthal, Healthcare IT Systems have four barriers.
Unfortunately, getting the revenue you deserve will usually require using a code modifier. Modifiers are two-character designations that signal a change in how the code for the procedure or service should be applied for the claim.
New Tax Credits for Small Practices
Small physician practices, may be eligible for new tax credits of up to 35 percent of the cost of providing health insurance to their employees. The credit will increase to 50 percent in 2014.
Medicare Payments Audited by RAC Program
Health care providers offering Medicare services need be more diligent in their record-keeping and more attentive to coding than ever before. The Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) program, which is designed to identify improper Medicare payments, recently became a permanent part of the landscape.
No Guarantees of Lower Costs by ACOs
Altering payment mechanisms and care delivery structures aren't enough to achieve a successful accountable care organization (ACO), according to a new report examining ACO experiences in California.
PTAN Issues Trigger Enrollment Letters
Recently physicians have been receiving letters from their carriers stating that they do not have valid enrollment with that carrier. Provider transaction account numbers (PTAN) are often used for authentication purposes by your carrier, so make sure the PTAN is associated with the provider’s National Provider Identify (NPI).
Physician Transition Factors to Consider
According to practice consultants and administrators, we will see a large increase of veteran physicians retiring in the coming months. Specific challenges will arise for practices who bring new doctors to replace the leaving ones.
Ohio Requires Electronic Payments
The Ohio Medical Association has announced that effective October 16, 2010, Ohio law regulating health plans is requiring all providers who send claims electronically to be setup for Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT) otherwise known as direct deposit. Providers must contact each individual insurance company to setup the EFT account.
High Site-Of-Service Coding Error Rates
The time is now for setting up a Medicare site-of-service coding system within your practice to check accuracy since Medicare will be looking more closely at these codes in the future.
Ordering and Providing Information Is Due
Avoid claim rejections by fully updating your providers' enrollment information in the Provider Enrollment, Chain, and Ownership System (PECOS) by July 6, 2010.
Properly Enrolling Physicians
CMS has updated their Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) Authorization Agreement forms needed to enroll or update Physicians information with Medicare.
Case Study: ECP's Secondary Medical Claims Solution
Staying in Compliance Without Upgrading Your Practice Management System.
Providers Face Challenges Converting to EMR
A year has passed since the HITECH Act within the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act became law, with its enhanced protections of patient data and tens of billions of dollars to accelerate the adoption and use of electronic health records. What do you need done to be ready?
New PECOS edits and how to prevent rejections
The Center for Medical Services has expanded their claims editing process for durable medical equipment Medicare area contractors to include defense against claims containing missing, improper or fraudulent physician orders. ECP provides some helpful tips for practices so their claims aren't rejected.
Technology Can Save Billions in Healthcare
“The U.S. healthcare system could reduce costs by $332 billion over the next 10 years if healthcare providers update their technology,” says a new report from UnitedHealth Group.
How Mandatory Electronic Claims Submission Affects Us
By
Alice Scott and Michele Redmond of www.MedicalBillingLive.com
Costs are definitely cut down with electronic billing. Both insurance companies and the government would like to see all claims sent electronically. If Minnesota is effective with instituting the electronic mandate, you can be sure that other states will follow. It is just a matter of time.
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