Be warned. This year’s massive E/M coding changes could easily be costing you thousands — unless you have a solid handle on time-based coding criteria and when to apply it.time-based coding guidelines 2021.
Although it’s now easier to use time to determine the level of your E/M services (99202-05; 99212-15), it’s also easier to make mistakes that cut into your revenue and get your claims audited (which you certainly don’t want).
Also, using time instead of medical decision making (MDM) to calculate your E/M level can cheat you out of reimbursement that you deserve for shorter more complex visits.
Utilizing time-based coding can help you get paid more of what you deserve for your office visits without raising red flags to auditor, if you do it right…
This is where coding expert and educator, Leonta Williams, MBA, RHIA, CCS, CCDS, CPC, CPCO, CEMC, CHONC, CRC, can help. During her 60-minute online training, Leonta will walk you through how and when to use time-based coding for your E/M visits.
You’ll master the new 2021 rules of time-based coding, plus learn how to avoid common but serious missteps that can result in your claims being denied and audited.
Here are just a few time-based E/M coding tactics you’ll receive by attending this 60-minute online training:
- Strategically choose between coding based on time vs MDM to ethically maximize your payup
- Avoid lost revenue due to activities that have been excluded in your time calculation
- Fully support time-based billing for your presenting problem, diagnosis, treatment, and risk
- Capture additional time from days outside of the exam date to improve your E/M level
- Foolproof ways to document your time that will pass an audit with flying colors
- Nail down prolonged service code (99417 and G2212) rules in light of current payer audit activity
- Simplify your time-based documentation by using alerts in your EMR
- Learn what an “impossible day” consists of, and why you must avoid it at all costs
- Simplify timekeeping for split/shared visits and improve your overall reimbursement
- And much more!
Regardless of your practice’s size or specialty, if you provide E/M services you simply can’t afford to miss this training. By understanding when—and when not—to use time-based coding for E/M visits, you’ll ethically optimize your reimbursement, save valuable provider and staff time, prevent payer denials, and protect against audits.
For example, using time ONLY to determine the level of your office visit, a 35-minute appointment with an established patient would be coded as a level 3 visit (99213). But, if that same visit required a moderate level of MDM, you could actually submit your claim for a level 4 visit (99214) and receive a higher reimbursement.
Don’t let the major overall changes to the 2021 coding guidelines for E/M – including time-based coding – trip you up. This training will teach you how to determine whether or not time-based coding is the right way to go for the services you offer, and exactly how to document your time so that your claims stand up to even the toughest payer scrutiny.
Sign up for this online training today and make sure you are being fully compensated for your time and complexity of decision-making under the new 2021 E/M coding guidelines.
Don’t wait, register now! time-based coding guidelines 2021.
Leonta (Lee) Williams is currently the Director of Coding at a large physician organization in the southeast. Lee has over 15 years of experience working in both the outpatient and inpatient setting. Some of her professional roles have included coder, auditor, practice manager, educator, and trainer.
Lee has presented at national healthcare conferences, private healthcare training organizations, and has frequently contributed articles to healthcare publications. She currently serves on a number of Boards including Georgia Health Information Management Association (GHIMA) and the American Academy of Professional Coders (AAPC). Lee has a B.S. in Health Information Management and an MBA with concentration in Healthcare Administration.
I found the webinar to be very informative.
Gina Damm
Team Leader, HIM
