CodeCast | Medical Billing and Coding Insights

A question that Terry often fields is one regarding billing for pre-op visits. Should these visits be billing? There is conflicting published guidance on this question from different sources.

Terry discusses the difference between pre-op visits and pre-op clearances. Is it a visit performed by the surgeon or the surgeon’s QHP? Or a provider not involved with the surgery?

These questions are answered in this week’s episode of the CodeCast podcast.

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The post Can Pre-Op Visits Be Billed? appeared first on Terry Fletcher Consulting, Inc..

When a dietician or nutritionist sees a patient, their services may not covered for bariatric patients aka obesity. It is a nice option to have, but patients, would most likely, have to pay for it themselves.

Medicare is clear that they will pay for an obesity screening, and two behavioral health visits, if qualified, but the MNT (Medical Nutritional Therapy) is only for CKD (Chronic Kidney Diseased) or Diabetic patients.

Listen to this episode of the CodeCast podcast for more details on billing for these services, plus visit https://www.medicarefaq.com/faqs/does-medicare-cover-medical-nutritional-therapy/ for more details.

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The post Registered Dietitians and Nutritionist Coding and Billing appeared first on Terry Fletcher Consulting, Inc..

Social Determinates of Health are important secondary diagnoses to help explain a patient’s circumstances when it comes to access to medical care, adherence to medical advice, and environmental factors that could hinder care.

However, many practices are reporting these codes without a direct relationship to the problems addressed in the encounter.

This week Terry discusses the dangers of miscoding and how this could be not only a PR nightmare if you get it wrong, but a legal issue if you label patients without their permission.

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If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

The post Using SDoH (Social Determinates of Health) Correctly appeared first on Terry Fletcher Consulting, Inc..

CMS has not addressed a template for audio-only Telehealth visits. Therefore, Terry offers some best practices for audio-only documentation in order to stand up to and be compliant with payer audits.

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The post Documentation Requirements for Audio-Only Visits appeared first on Terry Fletcher Consulting, Inc..

Terry revisits the rule on reporting specificity in the laterality of a diagnosis, when the physician or QHP only gives us unspecified.

What can we do as coders?

As a bonus, Terry also updates us on the latest “No Surprises Act” protections.

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If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

The post ICD10CM Revisited on Laterality appeared first on Terry Fletcher Consulting, Inc..