Overview of Hospice Care Additional Services (non-Hospice Organization) Medicare beneficiaries who have a terminal illness with a life expectancy of six months or less can elect to have their end-of-life care provided by a hospice organization (the “hospice”). Medicare then pays hospice to provide all the care that the patient needs that is related to […]
Teaching Physician Rules | Quick Reference Guide
This quick reference guide breaks down who must document what for which services as outlined in Medicare’s teaching physician rules.
Behavioral Health and Telemedicine
Behavioral health via telehealth is allowed permanently, thanks to the Consolidated Appropriations Act signed in Dec. 2020 and effective January 2021. The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 permanently removed geographic and originating site restrictions for behavioral health services in Medicare, allowing beneficiaries to receive mental health services from any location, including their homes, without rural-only […]
Diagnosis Coding for Antepartum Care
Question: Patient seen for antepartum care but delivered at 38 weeks at a different hospital/physician group. What diagnosis codes should we use for the visits before the birth episode. Answer: The diagnosis coding for antepartum care would be specific to the patient’s condition at the time care was provided. If at the time of the […]
Aftercare and Follow-Up: ICD-10-CM Coding
Aftercare visit codes are assigned in situations in which the initial treatment of a disease has been performed but the patient requires continued care during the healing or recovery phase, or for the long-term consequences of the disease. ICD-10 makes two important points about the use of aftercare codes in the final chapter. The aftercare […]
Overview of FQHC and RHC Coding | Webinar
Recorded February 20th, 2025
1 CEU expires 2/28/26
Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) operate in rural and urban areas, and provide services to Medicare, Medicaid patients and privately insured patients. Rural Health Centers operate in rural areas and also provide services to Medicare, Medicaid and privately insured patients.
Diagnosis Coding for Intentional Self-Harm
Another discussion of codes that use placeholder xxxA (or xxx with another 7th character) One of the most searched terms on CodingIntel is xxxA. Experienced diagnosis coders recognize the placeholder digits “xxx” and the 7th character extender A. When we pulled the list of ICD-10-CM codes that have xxxA in them, these related to self-harm […]
National Coverage Determination: PrEP for HIV Prevention | HCPCS Code G0011
Physicians and qualified health professionals (QHP) can provide (get paid for) up to eight counseling sessions per year for HIV risk assessment, risk reduction and medication adherence, according to a national coverage determination (NCD) issued in 2024. Background On September 30, 2024 CMS issued a NCD 210.15, Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) for Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) […]
Everyday Coding for Medical Practices
Everyday Coding is Betsy’s signature course. We’ve gathered all the components here in one convenient spot. You can work through them one at a time, select just the ones you need, or customize training for your physicians and staff.
RHC and FQHC Update
Background Rural Health Centers (RHCs) and Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs) have specific rules related to coding for service in their clinics. Both submit claims on a UB claim form that shows a revenue code and also includes the specific HCPCS/CPT® codes that were performed. RHCs are paid an all-inclusive rate for services done on […]
Diagnosis coding for a fall (or other injury)
When a patient presents for an injury after a fall, practitioners may be tempted to search for the word “fall” and select the first diagnosis that they find. Perhaps, they find the code W06.xxxA “fall from a bed” or even W19.xxxA “unspecified fall”. They select the code, close the encounter, and move on to the […]
How Fees are Set in the Medicare Fee Schedule
How does Medicare set its fees? This is important for other payers because commercial payers often use the values set by Medicare to calculate their fees. This overview provides information and examples to explain how fees are set in the Medicare Fee Schedule. CodingIntel members can start with the brief video introduction and companion slides, […]
Community Health Integration (CHI) Services
This article includes information primarily from the 2024 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, but also the 2025 OPPS Fee Schedule in order to address billing when performed at an hospital outpatient department. The effective date for the CPT® and HCPCS codes, and CMS policy was 1-1-2024. Practitioner (physician/NPP) identifies Social Determinants of Health (SDoH) needs […]
Care Plan Oversight | Coding reference sheet
There are two sets of codes for care plan oversight, CPT® (99374–99380) and HCPCS codes (G0181, G0182). The requirements for each are different, including time thresholds and what activities may be included in the CPO time. RVUs are assigned by Medicare for these CPT® codes. Some have a bundled indicator and some invalid, which means […]
Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule for Calendar Year 2025
2026 conversion factor $33.4009 ($33.5675 for qualifying APM participants) – updated 11/4/2025 2025 conversion factor $32.3465 (updated 11/19/2024) Coverage of new HCPCS codes On November 1, CMS released the final 2025 Medicare physician fee schedule. The rule contains dozens of new HCPCS codes that will take effect Jan. 1, 2025. From cardiovascular disease assessment and […]
CPT® Coding Changes
Updates to the CPT® Manual: 2025 Edition The 2025 edition of the CPT® Manual confirms hundreds of code changes that take effect Jan. 1, 2025, including 270 new codes and 112 deleted codes. The 2025 Manual also revises nearly 40 codes. In this roundup of some of the significant changes to the 2025 CPT code […]
ICD-10-CM Chapter Specific Guidelines – Chapters 17–20
The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting sets the precedent of rules that all diagnostic coders must abide by. Section I.C. covers the chapter-specific guidelines. These offer detailed information about various conditions that require more thorough reporting guidance than the general guidelines provide. Reading the guidelines in their entirety is incredibly important, but this […]
ICD-10-CM Chapter Specific Guidelines – Chapters 14–16
The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting sets the precedent of rules that all diagnostic coders must abide by. Section I.C. covers the chapter-specific guidelines. These offer detailed information about various conditions that require more thorough reporting guidance than the general guidelines provide. Reading the guidelines in their entirety is incredibly important, but this […]
ICD-10-CM Chapter Specific Guidelines – Chapters 11–13
The ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting sets the precedent of rules that all diagnostic coders must abide by. Section I.C. covers the chapter-specific guidelines. These offer detailed information about various conditions that require more thorough reporting guidance than the general guidelines provide. Reading the guidelines in their entirety is incredibly important, but this […]
Smoking Cessation, Substance Use Counseling, Screening, and Intervention Coding, 99406-99609
Although the use of tobacco products is on the decline in the United States, the consumption of alcohol and other addictive substances remains a common preventable problem. As a result, the American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) CPT Editorial Panel included a spotlight on reporting tobacco, alcohol, and substance use cessation, counseling, screening, and intervention codes in […]
ICD-10-CM Chapter Specific Guidelines – Chapters 7–10
Section I.C of the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting, titled “Chapter Specific Guidelines,” contains 22 chapters. These chapters offer detailed guidance on specific codes and code ranges in the ICD-10-CM manual. This article is part of a series that will delve into each of the chapters in Section I.C to delineate coding protocols […]
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