Healthcare Practice Advisor Blog

This is the place to turn to for physician practice-specific how-to-articles to help you overcome the top challenges you face in medical coding & billing, compliance, credentialing, practice management, HIPAA, and more.

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Safeguard Your Patients with Contact Tracing Success Tips

Your practice’s revenue most likely hasn’t returned to pre-coronavirus levels. There are a variety of reasons for this, but one key element is that a portion of your patients are not yet comfortable coming into your practice. To get them back, and to get your reimbursements back to normal, you must rebuild your patients’ trust. […]

Published Date: July 2, 2020

HHS: Protect Your Relief Funds by Satisfying New Reporting Rule

You can breathe a temporary sigh of relief on your struggle to nail down the ambiguities for your July 10 HHS relief fund reporting. HHS recently released new guidance giving you some extra time and details on the requirements you need to meet. When the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) swiftly distributed millions […]

Published Date: July 1, 2020

Collect $46 for Telehealth CPT Code 99441 vs 99213

QUESTION: Our patients really love the convenience and safety of telehealth, and we are planning to continue offering the services long-term. Can you provide us with some clarification on how to use CPT code 99441-99443 vs 99201-99215 when the video exam is not straightforward? Some example include: What if there are technical issues and the […]

Published Date: June 30, 2020

Liability Waivers for COVID-19: Put Stronger Safeguards in Place Now

QUESTION: Can we be sued if a patient thinks they got infected at our practice? Will a COVID-19 liability waiver protect us from patient lawsuits claiming they contracted the virus at our office? Question from Austin, Texas subscriber ANSWER: You are right to be anxious about the reality of being sued. More than 800+ […]

Published Date: June 26, 2020

Head Off $2 Million Medical Billing Fines

Head Off $2 Million Medical Billing Fraud and Abuse Violation

You could be fined up to $11,000 for each false item or service you submit to Medicare. That means, your total penalty amount could be HUGE – reaching into the millions as it did for one physician practice. Halt massive penalties from crippling your practice by fixing these common medical billing fraud and abuse errors. […]

Published Date: June 25, 2020

Physician Credentialing: Prevent Cash Flow Break with NPI Accuracy Essentials

Make no mistake! Setting up and maintaining the accuracy of each of your physician’s National Provider Identifier (NPI) is essential and COMPLEX. Any error will result in your reimbursement being delayed and a hit to your practice’s cash flow. As a Medicaid/Medicare provider, you are required to obtain a NPI to get paid from CMS […]

Published Date: June 23, 2020

Telehealth Plus Specimen Collection: Prevent Revenue Loss

QUESTION: Our doctor performed a telehealth exam that resulted in the patient coming into the office later that day for an in-person COVID-19 test. Can we bill CPT code 99211 for the specimen collection AND 99203 for the telehealth encounter when they occur on the same day? If so, should modifier 25 be added to […]

Published Date: June 19, 2020

Disinfection Requirements to Keep Your Practice Open

To avoid another round of revenue-busting lockdowns, you must do everything in your power to keep your staff and patients safe while providing treatment. Coronavirus particles can live for hours—and in some cases, days—on surfaces and in aerosols, and not just in your clinical areas. To protect your patients and your practice, your staff must […]

Published Date: June 17, 2020

DOJ New Rules: Fund Your Compliance Plan or Face Massive Fines

With so many improvement areas competing for resources, a sufficiently financed and living breathing compliance plan has not been high on your priority list. But new guidance released June 1 from the Department of Justice (DOJ) that determines penalties based on these added requirements means you must update your compliance program now to avoid massive […]

Published Date: June 16, 2020

FFCRA: Compliantly Stop Paying Staff NOT to Work

Closures of camps and schools due to COVID-19 may be just one of many reasons your employees are asking to take more time off than ever. Certainly, you want to be as flexible as possible, but you also have a business to run. It’s essential that you have a firm handle on when you are […]

Published Date: June 10, 2020