Non Billing Talk

The new heathcare act

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Sun, 08 Nov 2009 03:57:09 GMT

I just downloaded the new Healthcare Bill passed by the House of Representatives.

I just started reading it and I can see some problems. It makes reference to terms such as "prevailing rate" and balance billing. BUT, it does NOT define these terms.

I see this here in Florida. The problem is that these terms are usually left up to the insurance company to define.

If this law allows balance billing, which it seems it does, only with non-contracted...

Florida Chapter MAB

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 17:21:57 GMT

I was discussing the starting of a Medical Association of Billers Florida Chapter here in Central Florida

It would be located near Leesburg, Tavares, Eustis and Mount Dora an about an hour north of Orlando.

SO, how many of you out there, in Florida, would like to see this happen

IM confused

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Sat, 24 Oct 2009 19:29:03 GMT

why would someone who has certification as a CPC and CBCS need to ask someone for a diagnosis code for the flu? I would think that if they unerwent testing for certification and passed to hold the certification of CPC AND CBCS, they would be able to find the code themselves.

Healthcare Reform Redux

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 03:56:46 GMT

I was watching the morning news and one piece was how our congress representatives were getting free medical care at the Capitol. The medical office is staffed by medical representatives of the US Navy.

This put an idea into my head. I know, Oh No! Not Again!. I spent 8 years as an advisor to the New England Army Reserve and National Guard Medical units. All throughout Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, Connecticut, Rhode Island and New Hampshire, we have a wealth of highly trained...

Melinda Brown - AHA Heart Walk 2009 Donations - Tax Deductible!

feeds@yuku.com (mbrown555) — Fri, 18 Sep 2009 16:40:55 GMT

Hello Friends & Co-workers,

My husband and I both participate in the...

Need Help

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 10:34:35 GMT

Im hitting a mental block on things I can work on to help someone or an article to write for help.

Anyone have any ideas to get me out of this block.

Thanks

Away

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 03:32:22 GMT

This past weekend, I was down in Deerfield Beach. I received word that my Mother was admitted to a hospice. I went to see her on Sunday. She was comatose and heavily drugged. AT 5am, my brother called saying my mother had passed away. She was 76 years old. She left behind 7 children and 7 grandchildren. She raised 7 children on a waitresses salary. I will miss her. She once told me, "Stevie, if you are in the right, then fight as hard as you can. I took this advice and use it...

Nationalized healthcare?

feeds@yuku.com (kriscash) — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 12:07:32 GMT

Has anyone considered how the US healthcare reform might affect us as billers? How might that change things for us if we moved into a sort of nationalized healthcare plan?

Virtual fax #?

feeds@yuku.com (NancyDC) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:28:38 GMT

Right now we have two phone lines in our office. Line 1 is our main phone #. Line 2 is our fax and credit card line. If line 1 is busy, calls will also automatically roll over to line 2 for us to answer. We have DSL for internet. This is all through AT&T. We are paying a fortune for all of this and are looking for ways to cut costs. One thing we were thinking of doing is only having line 1 and putting call waiting on it so we'd still be able to answer a second call if line 1 was busy....

Software

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Tue, 11 Aug 2009 07:41:50 GMT

Medical Billing requires billing software so we can
(1) Send claims
(2) Send Statements
(3) Electronically document the visit with icd-9 and CPT codes
(4) Document incidents that occur with the account such as \
(a) Patient calls
(b) Non-patient calls
(c) Correspondence received such as subpoenas, medical record requests, denials, attorney requests for statements/records
and how we responded to these incidents.
(4)...

No Xanadu or Cibola

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 05:46:24 GMT

I usually see something similar to the following:

is there something out there that can tell me all codes/modifiers/payments for POS 11, for a rectal cataract surgeon or G-Spot examiner.

Yes, there is something out there, but not on a magical website or for free. Someone may have invested hours upon hours of research and they may have prepared such a document that can make the blind see, the crippled walk and get every claim paid, but you have to pay for it.

...

In the News

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 02:47:57 GMT

The following is from the website of the Huffington Post: A New York City woman who says she can't find a job is suing the college where she earned a bachelor's degree.Trina Thompson filed a lawsuit last week against Monroe College in Bronx Supreme Court. The 27-year-old is seeking the $70,000 she spent on tuition. Thompson says she's been unable to find gainful employment since she received her information technology degree in April. She says the Bronx school's Office of...

NPPES - Secure, Maintain and Update Your information

feeds@yuku.com (sporty981) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 15:53:40 GMT

National Plan and Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) - Secure, Maintain and Update Your information

Thursday, July 30, 2009 3:49 PM

Scope of Practice

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 04:06:46 GMT
Doctors, Nurses, EMTs, Paramedics, Barbers, Manicurists, and most professions have what is called a Scope of Practice. That is basically a line that is drawn that says, to stay within your scope of practice, you can do this, this, this, but not that. A pediatrician is a doctor that treats children. You dont see pediatrician going to a hospital treating an elderly persons ingrown toenails as an example. You dont see EMTs performing appendectomys in the back of an ambulance. But,...

Healthcare reform

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Thu, 30 Jul 2009 00:18:27 GMT
I received an e-mail from President Obama regarding healthcare reform. Here are some of his proposals:

No discrimination for pre-existing conditions

No exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses, deductibles or co-pays

No cost-sharing for preventive care

No dropping of coverage if you become seriously ill

No gender discrimination
...

FTC Delays the "Red Flag Rule"

feeds@yuku.com (sporty981) — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 12:35:55 GMT
Delayed until 11/1/2009

http://www.healthdatamana...54:129365a:&st=email

Today's announcement that the Commission will delay enforcement of the Rule until November 1, 2009, does not affect other federal agencies' enforcement of the original November 1, 2008, compliance deadline for institutions subject to their...

Starting Out In This Profession

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 07:12:54 GMT
Ive been in this profession (coding and billing) for many years. Ive seen many things over the years. Now, so many people want to become coders or billers or both. I see some people overresearch because they want guarantees. I see some people who only want to work from home. I see some people who want to dictate terms, I see some people who want to cheat the system. and I see some people who have no ideas on what they want.

Our profession is an unregulated and regulated one....

Medical Billing Pre-employment test

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:39:00 GMT
Tomorrow, I will have a medical billing pre-employment test finished and polished.

It covers things a biller with training and experience should know.

It contains EOBs, Aging Reports, AR Recovery, Posting questions and more. An example is as follows :

Labor Law Poster

feeds@yuku.com (mxiong) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 09:44:20 GMT

Hi wonder if there are downloadable form of labor law poster state&fed when new law are changed, if so, the size of the poster must it be large? thx.

Billing Company Compliance Plan

feeds@yuku.com (Steve Verno) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 07:14:23 GMT
I just finished working on a Medical Billing Compliance Plan. This document also encorporates the FTC Red Flag Rules. Its in MS Word and is 40 pages long. Its easily adabtable to fit your needs.

I just sent it to Liz and Sharon at the MAB.

Please contact them if you wish a copy