Aetna Inc. and United Healthcare will now cover laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy, a newer method of bariatric surgery that is becoming increasingly popular as a treatment for morbid obesity, according to a news release from the American Society for Metabolic &…
ASC Coding, Billing & Collections
In an effort to reduce rising healthcare costs, many Massachusetts health insurers are offering plans that mostly bar patients from receiving care at many more expensive hospitals, such as Massachusetts General and Brigham and Women's Hospitals, designed to encourage patients…
Glendale, Wis.-based Wheaton Franciscan Healthcare has started offering billing clinics where patients can make an appointment to meet one-on-one with a billing specialist to discuss outstanding questions related to patients' medical bills and financial responsibilities, according to a report in…
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas has implemented a new payment policy for out-of-network ASCs in which the insurer will send the entire reimbursement for services at OON facilities directly to the patient. Patients will then be responsible for sending…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued a notice to Aetna on April 5 of the agency's intent to impose an intermediate sanction to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries continue to have access to prescription drugs under Medicare's requirements, according…
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In a market where case volumes are down, ASCs have focused on reducing costs and increased recruitment to keep margins steady. However, using data collected through your billing and collections department can help ASCs identify additional areas for improvement. Bill…
Q: How many days generally need to go by before a second procedure is fully reimbursed? For example, if a patient has an EGD today, when can colonoscopy be scheduled for 100 percent reimbursement?
CPT 29220 (strapping of low back) has been deleted from the American Medical Association's CPT 2010 Professional Edition, effective Jan. 1, 2010, according to a report from the American Chiropractic Association.
CPT copyright 2009 American Medical Association. All rights reserved. CPT is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association.Note: This article previously appeared in the American Academy of Professional Coder's Coding Edge newsletter. For more information about Coding Edge, click…
The American Academy of Professional Coders has announced its audit services division, which will provide full-service healthcare compliance and corporate integrity audits and will service outpatient practices, health plans, healthcare attorneys and government regulators to determine key areas of risk…