Week 1 – Industry Hot Buttons!nnModifier 25: Modifier 25 landed itself on both private payer and the OIG hit lists again this year for overuse and blatant misuse leading to millions in overpayments – and everyone wants their money back! Applying Modifier 25...

Republicans and the Trump administration are reported to be close to amending the health care proposal on overhauling Obamacare.nnThe Trump administration’s push to revive the moribund GOP health care proposal has apparently paid some dividends. The White House and...

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!nnPRACTICE: I’m sure you’ve all heard the old adage: Practice makes perfect! As simple as it sounds, most...

One of the best life lessons I ever learned is always hire higher! Hire people better than yourself! Some managers are intimidated to do this, thinking they may be replaced, they may lose control, etc. If that could happen it will anyway! Always recruit and hire...

The staff is everything! We cannot do it without them.nnOur (and your) most valuable asset is the staff, their abilities, their training, their insights, their work ethic. If this is true, why do so many do it so poorly? When we buy a copier, lease space, buy a car,...

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. nn99291:...

nnTriCare is changing contractors! TriCare’s new carrier/contractor will be Health Net Federal Services. In the process of changing they are re-contracting and re-credentialing the provider network. Please be careful to fully read the new TriCare contract and make...

It is still out there alive and well.nnDon’t take your eye off the ball when it comes to contracting with your payers.nnManaged Care Contracting is a continual process. It should be done constantly and consistently. For a well–managed process you should be seeing 4-5%...

As part of the new coding format for our newsletter, Welter Healthcare Partners is excited to offer you a new surgery coding series in which we want to help you! The 2nd week of every month we will highlight a complicated surgical case. This week we are highlighting a...

nnAs you know, the new era of healthcare and the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has brought monumental changes and challenges to physician reimbursement and operations—expanded insurance coverage, threats of decreased reimbursement, increased patient cost share, data...

Another set of scary acronyms! As with all of these roll outs, take it one step at a time! It is really not scary IF you have been keeping up on coding and documentation and have a reasonably up to date EMR. There is a lot of help out there and as always we are ready...

Week 1 – Industry Hot Buttons!nnMACRA: As a result of Congress repealing the historic SGR (Sustainable Growth Rate) reimbursement formula last year, a new pay–for–performance model has been introduced that will directly impact Part B reimbursement. Physician practices...