The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued guidance regarding clarification of using initials in lieu of a full signature for amended or delayed entries into the medical record. This change will

With the implementation of ICD-10 beginning on October 1, 2015, I am often asked about this supposedly “grace period” that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the American Medical Association (AMA) agreed to back on July 6, 2015 and how it will help providers if they do not select the most appropriate ICD-10 code for the Medicare beneficiary. To clarify, CMS and the AMA are not calling this a “grace period”, rather, is calling it ICD-10 flexibilities. CMS published a question and answer document concerning the CMS/AMA Joint Announcement and guidance regarding ICD-10 flexibilities and here is

Now that the United States has transitioned to ICD-10 for services provided on or after October 1, 2015, a question I am often asked is do we have to obtain new or updated orders from the physician for Medicare beneficiaries receiving outpatient therapy services. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has provided an updated answer to this question. CMS is

One of the most common two questions I receive is when a 7th character is required on an ICD-10 code, how do I know if the 7th character should be the character “A” or character “D”? Also, since I am doing an initial evaluation, shouldn’t the 7th character always be an “A” on that first visit and then change to character “D” for follow up visits? The answer to the second question is “not necessarily”. The use of the 7th character, in my opinion, is one of the most confusing for physical and occupational therapists as well as speech-language pathologists

The transition to ICD-10 applies to all entities covered under HIPAA for dates of service that occur on or after October 1, 2015. One of the most common questions I receive is who is considered a HIPAA covered entity? The Administrative Simplification standards adopted by Health and Human Services (HHS) under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) apply to any entity that is a health care provider that conducts certain transactions in electronic form (called here a “covered health care provider”). a health care clearinghouse. a health plan. An entity that is one or more of these

With the transition to ICD-10 occurring on October 1, 2015, many are wondering if their workers compensation programs are transitioning to ICD-10 and if so, will they transition on October 1, 2015 or will they be delayed. In case you are wondering why I stated will the workers compensation program transition to ICD-10 as you thought everyone had to transition to ICD-10 on October 1, 2015. The mandated transition to ICD-10 is only for HIPAA covered entities. Workers compensation programs and auto no-fault carriers are not HIPAA covered entities so they are not mandated to transition to ICD-10 on October

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has provided ICD-10 answers to questions on various topics in one location. Topics that are addressed include: Claims Processing and Billing Guidance Coding General Equivalency Mappings Home Health Provider Information National Coverage Determinations Local Coverage Determinations To access the questions and answers, click

CPT code additions, revisions and deletions occur every year and usually become effective January 1 of the calendar year and remain in effect the entire calendar year. The 2016 CPT coding books began arriving in mid-September to providers who ordered their books from the American Medical Association. In review of the 2016 book as the CPT codes apply to outpatient physical and occupational therapy and speech-language pathology services, I have noticed