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New Series of E/M Documentation Guidelines Teleconferences Offered

January Through March 2008

Beginning January, 2008, the National Government Services, Inc. Provider Outreach & Education Team will offer a new series of E/M Documentation Guidelines toll-free teleconferences available to all providers in National Government Services service areas. We will be focusing on progress notes related to an inpatient consultation, an established office patient and subsequent hospital care.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) established the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program to monitor the accuracy of Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) payments made. The primary goal of each contractor is to “Pay it Right” – that is, to pay the right amount to the right provider for covered and correctly coded services.  Findings from the CERT program continue to show that Evaluation & Management (E/M) services make up the most significant portion of errors. Your participation in a teleconference will both help to reduce E/M CERT errors and the potential for you to be asked to refund an overpayment due to incorrect coding or insufficient documentation.

This teleconference offers a unique interactive approach to acquiring the skills needed for selecting the appropriate E/M code level and ensuring that all services are supported by documentation in the medical record. Participants will be offered an organized, systematic method for developing and refining these techniques through the use of a code selection guide and actual documentation examples.

Prior to attending one of the upcoming teleconferences, we encourage those of you in New York or New Jersey to order the CDRs (Comparative Distribution Reports) and those of you in Indiana or Kentucky to order the CBRs (Comparative Billing Reports) for the E/M code families you most frequently bill to Medicare. These reports demonstrate how an individual provider is using a family of E/M codes compared to others in the same specialty peer group. In New York or New Jersey order by this link http://www.empiremedicare.com/partbny/lpet/cdr.htm and in Indiana or Kentucky order by this link http://www.adminastar.com/Providers/Carrier/MedicalReview/ComparativeBillingReport.cfm

The following five teleconference sessions are available for registration and all are held from 12:00 Noon EST – 1:30 p.m. EST on the dates noted:

January 17, 2008
February 7, 2008
February 21, 2008
March 6, 2008
March 20, 2008

You may register online at: http://www.empiremedicare.com/seminar/partbny/evalandmanage_ny.htm

After you register you will receive an e-mail confirmation with the toll-free dial-in number and Conference ID. You will also be instructed about where to read/download the teleconference materials needed before you participate on the call.

 

Posted: 12/11/2007
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