Billing and Coding
Billing and coding
ICD-10 guidance from AAFP and Family Practice Management
Even though the deadline to switch from ICD-9 to ICD-10 has been delayed to Oct. 1, 2014, physicians and staff must prepare now for the massive change. Both AAFP and the AAFP Family Practice Management journal have compiled a set of resources that they’ll continue to update as this deadline nears.
> Go to the FPM ICD-10 coding page
> Go to AAFP’s ICD-10 webpage
ICD-9 >> ICD-10, More than changing codes
In this practice management article, AAFP’s coding expert Cindy Hughes helps you and your practice prepare for the change from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
> Read the article from Texas Family Physician, Vol. 62 No. 4 | Fall 2011
Look before you leap with medical billing services
Medical billing services seem like a convenient option for physicians who don’t want to deal with the business side of their practice. However, these services can cause more harm than good unless constantly kept in check with frequent reviews, audits, and meetings.
> Read the article by Bradley Reiner from Texas Family Physician, Vol. 59 No. 3 | Summer 2008
Prepare now for HIPAA transaction standards change
Physicians need to begin preparing for the next step in the evolution of Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act transaction standards. The compliance deadline for the HIPAA 5010 transaction standards is Jan. 1, 2012, and physicians who wait until the end of 2011 risk not being paid or having to pay a clearinghouse to convert transactions in 2012. This change will affect family physicians and all other entities that electronically transmit health information, including claims submissions and patient eligibility inquiries.
> Read the article from Texas Family Physician, Vol. 62 No. 3 | Summer 2011
Billing Disclosures for S.B. 1731 compliance
Physicians must post notices in their offices or provide written documents to patients upon request on their billing policies, estimated costs, and discounts they provide to uninsured and indigent patients, due to a law passed during the 80th Legislative Session that went into effect Sept. 1, 2007. Physicians must also delineate whether any interest will be applied to billed charges not paid by a third-party payer and what procedures exist for handling patient complaints of these charges.
Another law that went into effect Sept. 1, 2007, requires physicians billing for pathology services to disclose billing and contact information to health plans or patients. Physicians must either provide a health plan or third-party payer the name and address of the person or laboratory that performed the anatomic pathology service, and the amount the billing physician paid for the service, or must provide a patient an itemized statement of the services and net charges paid.
> View a news article from TAFP.
Billing and coding resources from AAFP
Go to the Coding Resources and Assistance section of AAFP’s website for resources on anatomy and terminology, billing and claims, compliance, coding tips and courses, diagnosis coding, evaluation and management coding, Medicare/Medicaid coverage, and more.