Reminder: Social Security Number Removal Initiative
Check out this reminder from CMS about Medicare and the social security number initiative, as well as tips and links to where you can learn more about the announcement.nnAs you know, beginning in April 2018, CMS will start mailing Medicare cards with new Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) to all people with Medicare. The MBI will replace the Social Security Number (SSN)-based Health Insurance Claim Number for transactions like billing, eligibility status, and claim status after a transition period. Make sure your systems are ready:n
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- Visit our Social Security Number Removal Initiative (SSNRI) Home and Provider webpages for the latest details about the transition. Subscribe to the weekly MLN Connects newsletter for updates and new information.
- Verify your patients’ addresses. Your patients will not get a new card if their address is not correct. If the address you have on file is different than the Medicare address you get in electronic eligibility transaction responses, ask your patients to correct their address in Medicare’s records through Social Security. This may require coordination between your billing and office staff.
- Attend our quarterly calls to get more information. We will let you know when calls are scheduled in MLN Connects.
- Work with us to help your Medicare patients with the change to the MBI. This fall (2017), we will be in touch with ways to help.
- Get ready to use the new MBI Format. Ask your billing and office staff if your system will be ready to accept the 11 digit alpha numeric MBI. If you use vendors to bill Medicare, ask them about their MBI practice management system changes and make sure they are ready for the change. Make and internally test changes to your practice management systems and business processes by April 2018, before we mail the new Medicare cards.
- If you are a vendor who partners with Medicare providers to bill Medicare, communicate with them about your system readiness and what they should expect to see from you beginning April 2018.
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It would be better that you know that it is a good idea.nnPutting together a well thought out and honest Proforma can prove the business case of an idea…or disprove it.nnAll revenue has an expense, all expenses should have some attributable revenue. A proforma is a list of both revenue and expenses in incredible detail and granularity. If there is a business case a thorough proforma will prove it. And…as a bonus the proforma calculations can become your budget control document to keep good ideas good.nnWe do medical management proforma’s… we we do them well! Spend a few bucks to insure that you will make a lot of bucks.nn
Welter Healthcare Partners is excited to present our helpful career advancing tips and strategies to sharpen the skills prospective employers look for in a coder!nnSoft Skills: What are they exactly? And why are they so crucial to landing your dream job? Soft skills are used synonymously with interpersonal skills and are always in high demand. These are typically skills that are more social than technical like standard job-related requirements. Soft skills include a broad range of areas – here are just a few examples: communication, executive presence, gravitas, relationship-building, decisiveness, self-motivation, leadership, team work, creativity, and resiliency. Employers desire candidates with strong soft skills as these skills are invaluable to the success of any business and are imperativento fostering a dynamic workplace.
The Republican Health Bill financial analysis will reveal whether or not the bill will miss required targets, and ultimately determine if the House will have to redo the vote.nnHouse Republicans are waiting anxiously for a new financial estimate on their Obamacare repeal proposal that could force them into a do-over on the bill they barely passed early this month.nnSpeaker Paul Ryan says he is uncertain about the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office analysis of the measure’s budget impact — critical for meeting Senate rules that would let the GOP pass it with a simple majority amid unanimous Democratic opposition.nn”We have every reason to believe we are going to hit our mark,” Ryan of Wisconsin told reporters Tuesday. Still he added, “CBO scores have been unpredictable in cases in the past.”nnFor the health plan to comply with requirements for using a streamlined Senate process called reconciliation, the CBO will have to conclude that it reduces the deficit by at least $2 billion over 10 years. If not, the House will have to redo the bill to meet that standard and vote on it again. And that won’t be easy after the weeks of negotiations and revisions that led to the American Health Care Act’s May 4 
Welter Healthcare Partners is excited to present our monthly Code Spotlight! Each month, Welter Healthcare Partners will spotlight a unique CPT or ICD-10 code to profile and discuss practice applications of the code, as well as pertinent guideline reminders. nn99211: 99211 (Office or other outpatient visit for the evaluation and management of an established patient, that may not require the presence of a physician or other qualified health care professional. Usually, the presenting problem(s) are minimal. Typically, 5 minutes are spent performing or supervising these services.) is designated as the GO-TO Nurse/RN visit. In the majority of post-payment audits of 99211, the findings are conclusive – the code is widely misreported. The key to compliantly billing 99211 is that the documented face-to- face encounter must have an actual impact on the patient’s care. Merely doing a BP check, drawing labs, or administering an injection when the information obtained does not lead to management of a condition or illness, would not constitute a billable service. There should be clear documentation in the chart regarding patient/clinician exchanging medically significant and necessary information and there is management of the patient’s care via medical decision making (e.g. change in med regimen).