Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS) will be hosting an outpatient therapy seminar on September 25, 2014 in Merrillville, IN. Topics covered in the program include the following: Requirements for a Plan of Care Certifications and Recertifications Evaluations and Reevaluations  Therapy Caps Advanced Beneficary Notice of Noncoverage Documentation Requirements  Functional Reporting Requirements For additional information and to register, click HERE.

Noridian Healthcare Solutions will provide a teleconference on August 28, 2014 to discuss the Medicare outpatient Functional Limitation Reporting program (i.e. G-codes). For additional information how to participate, click HERE.

Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS) will be providing a teleconference on October 1, 2014 on documenting medical necessity for major joint replacements (hips and knees). This educational event is intended to improve compliance with documentation requirements for major joint replacement surgery. For additional information and to register, click HERE.

Wisconsin Physician Services (WPS) will host a half-day seminar designed to discuss complex MDS concepts on September 10, 2014 in Fort Wayne, IN. During this seminar, WPS will discuss topics such as:  therapy OMRAs (Other Medicare Required Assessments); early, late or missing assessments; complex MDS billing scenarios; current findings related to MDS 3.0 submission; and tools available to aid MDS coordinators. For additional information and to register, click HERE.

Noridian Healthcare Solutions, Medicare Administrative Contractor for the states of Alaska, Arizona, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming, has released several updated articles that impact outpatient therapy services. Articles that were updated include: Therapy Evaluations and Assessment Services Medical Necessity of Therapy Services Wound Care & Debridment – Provided by Therapist Therapy Driving Evaluations High Compression Bandage System Cardiac Rehabilitation Programs for Chronic Heart Failure To access the updated articles, click

National Government Services (NGS) will be providing several webinars for suppliers and providers in Jurisdiction K. This includes the following states: CT, MA ME, NH, NY, RI, and VT. Upcoming webinars include: Part B Providers: The Appeals Process – How to Avoid Appeals on July 30, 2014 Outpatient Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy LCD/SIA and Changes for 2014 on August 18, 2014 Outpatient Physical Therapy/Occupational Therapy LCD/SIA and Changes for 2014 on September 23, 2014    

Wisconsin Physician Services  (WPS) will hold a three-hour seminar on the Medicare Outpatient Therapy Benefit on August 20, 2014 in Traverse City, MI. The seminar is designed for those who provide or bill physical therapy, occupational therapy, or speech language pathology to Medicare beneficiaries. For additional information and to register, click HERE. In addition, WPS will host an outpatient therapy seminar for skilled nursing facilities on September 10, 2014 in Fort Wayne, IN. The seminar will focus on CCI edits and the proper use of modifier 59, proper coding required when reporting G-codes on the claim form and much more.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services announced the results from ICD-10 testing week held in March 2014. Testers submitted more than 127,000 claims with ICD-10 codes to the Medicare Fee-for-service (FFS) claims systems and received electronic acknowledgements confirming that their claims were accepted. Nationally, CMS accepted 89 percent of the test claims, with some regions reporting acceptance rates as high as 99 percent. The normal FFS Medicare claims acceptance rates average 95-98 percent. Testing did not identify any issues with the Medicare FFS claims systems. To read the full release, click HERE.