Who’s the New Guy? Really? The new hire… Staffing is tight. You just worked an extra 16 hours this week to fill the holes in the schedule which looks like swiss cheese on paper. In walks someone new that you never met. He (or she) sticks out his hand, shakes firmly and proceeds to explain […]
More Medicare Claim Processing Insight- Transporting ESRD Patients for Dialysis Second Week in a Row… Last week we filled this space with information from the Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) handling Part B claims in Ohio and Kentucky regarding their Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) findings. We provided you with a view of how the CERT […]
“Ambulance Service: Incomplete Documentation”- The CERT Perspective It Doesn’t Happen Often… Not often do we ever get a chance to gain a first-hand look into how decisions are made by Medicare compliance auditors. This week we had the chance to do so. CGS- J15 MAC CERT Our e-mail inbox chimed a few days ago, pretty […]
The ABC’s of an Ambulance Billing Company DNA There are many ambulance billing companies out there. These companies come in all sizes and shapes. Some are good; really good. Some are bad; really bad. A really good ambulance billing company has a basic DNA that involves these ABC’s. The same basics may apply to the […]
Without You? Imagine… Imagine your world without EMS. Hard to do isn’t it? What would your community do if you and the other “you’s” that make up your local first responder scene didn’t do what you do, everyday? Think about what you contribute to your community as an EMS provider. Think about the impact that […]
3 Important Things the EMS Front Office Must Teach EMS “Newbies” About Billing They won’t osmose… While updating our CPR certification recently, a quick scan of the room produced a very young student face or two. You know the eager beaver look of a person that is so new to the EMS system that they […]
Between the Lines Never a Time We’re going to begin this post with a blunt statement. There is never a time when your ambulance billing office can read between the lines! We talk A LOT about the documentation of ambulance transports in this space. Today we’re going to get about as fundament as we can […]
Non-Emergency Transports- Two Questions to ALWAYS Ask Big Brother’s Watching! Never before has the ambulance industry been so much under the microscope when it comes to billing and receiving payment for ambulance transports- especially non-emergency transports. Federal Government, State Governments, you name it. “Big Brother” is watching what we do. The focus has increased dramatically […]
Insurance Coverage Doesn’t Mean Insurance Payment In the news… The local newspaper that serves the area surrounding the offices featured a story about a large hospital system in this area that is realizing significantly lower insurance payments as the effects of the Affordable Healthcare Act (a.k.a. “Obamacare”) kick in. “Just because there are more insured, […]
Taking Aim at System Abusers Past History- “Villainizing” the Service Providers If you follow the news regarding entitlements like we do, then you have probably noticed a growing trend toward what we consider to be the “villainizing” of healthcare providers that bill Medicare and Medicaid. Everyone seems to want to blame the ills of the […]
