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View a Complimentary Recorded Webinar – Medical Billing Software Update: How to Prepare for ICD-10/5010 to Reduce F41.1 (Anxiety Reaction)

April 21st, 2011 by Kathy McCoy

Did you miss our complimentary live webinar today on preparing for the ICD-10-CM/5010 transition? No problem – you can watch the recording at your convenience.

Learn how to make the transition to ICD-10 smooth and keep your medical billing on track in this recorded webinarIf you’ve heard about the need to prepare for the transition to ICD-10/5010, but are not sure where to start, or if you’ve started but are not sure you’re on the right track, join us for this practical webinar.

Nancy Maguire, ACS, PCS, HCS-D, author of the Nancy Maguire GPS to ICD-10-CM Planning and Implementation Guide and leading expert on ICD-10, will walk you through steps for making a smooth transition.

View Now to Learn:

  • How do we develop a plan of action?
  • Who should we involve in the transition?
  • What are the differences between ICD-9 and ICD-10?
  • What are the deadlines and how does this impact our practice?
  • And much more

View the webinar now

Download the handout now

Who Will Benefit
Private practice owners, office managers, billing managers, billers, billing service owners and others concerned about the transition to ICD-10-CM and 5010 will benefit from this informative session.

About Your Speaker
Nancy Maguire, an expert on coding and ICD-10, will teach you how to make the transition to ICD-10 smooth and keep your medical billing on trackNancy Maguire, ACS, PCS, HCS-D
, is the author of the Nancy Maguire GPS to ICD-10-CM Planning and Implementation Guide, and is a nationally-renowned procedural and diagnostic coding instructor, boot camp trainer, and workshop leader. She is a highly-talented presenter who uses her knowledge and humor to reinforce the philosophy that coding can be fun! She has spent more than 30 years as a hands-on coder and has authored countless coding articles and presentations. In her expansive career, she has transitioned from nursing, to coding, to practice management, auditing and consulting. Nancy served as Director of Coding and Reimbursement at UTMB in Galveston Texas for four years. She served the first two terms as president of AAPC in the early 1990s. Her expert guidance is guaranteed to help medical office professionals make the best decisions in their everyday jobs and a positive impact on their career.

View the webinar now

Read More | No Comments | Filed in Events, HIPAA

ICD-10: Got Questions? CMS Has Answers (Or At Least A Forum)

August 26th, 2010 by Kathy McCoy

We at Kareo were pleased to be invited to participate in a phone conference with the American Medical Billing Association (AMBA) yesterday on ICD-10 and its implementation. We were the only software vendor represented, and found that many members had a lot of questions on ICD-10 and when they would be able to test.

Like many of you, Kareo is in the process of planning our strategies for addressing this change, and we’ll get back to you and the AMBA members in future on how we’ll be handling it. However, in the meantime we found some information from the CMS that we wanted to share with you. CMS is holding telecons on a regular basis to provide information on the new requirements. According to the CMS site, “Subject matter experts will review basic information on both ICD-10 and 5010 and explain how they are interrelated. A question and answer session will follow the presentations.”

If you are looking for more information on ICD-10, you may want to consider participating in one of these calls. The next one is on September 13, 2010; you can find more information at https://www.cms.gov/ICD10/02c_CMS_Sponsored_Calls.asp and register at http://www.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/091310 Please note that registration will close at 12:00 p.m. ET on September 10, 2010, or when available space has been filled.

For your convenience, here is the agenda from the CMS site:

ICD-10 Implementation in a 5010 Environment
Follow-Up National Provider Call

When: Monday, September 13, 2010
Time: 12:00 p.m. – 1:30 p.m. ET
Target Audience: Medical coders, physician office staff, provider billing staff, health records staff, vendors, educators, system maintainers and all Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) providers
Agenda:

ICD-10
• ICD-10 implementation for services provided on and after October 1, 2013
• Differences between ICD-10 and ICD-9-CM codes
• ICD-10-CM basic information for all users
• Tools for converting codes – General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs)
• Proposal to freeze ICD-9-CM and ICD-10 code updates except for new technologies and diseases

HIPAA Version 5010
• Compliance dates and timelines (No contingencies)
• 5010 before and after ICD-10 Implementation
• Readiness review for implementing HIPAA version 5010 and D.0
• What you need to be doing to prepare
• Medicare fee-for-service activities update
• Other issues and considerations

Conference Call Registration Information:
Date: September 13, 2010
Conference Title: ICD-10 Implementation in a 5010 Environment Follow-Up National Provider Call
Time: 12:00 p.m. ET
In order to receive the call-in information, you must register for the call. It is important to note that if you are planning to sit in with a group, only one person needs to register to receive the call-in data. This registration is solely to reserve a phone line, NOT to allow participation.
Registration will close at 12:00 p.m. ET on September 10, 2010, or when available space has been filled. No exceptions will be made, so please be sure to register early, prior to this time.
1. To register for the call participants need to go to: http://www.eventsvc.com/palmettogba/091310
2. Fill in all required data.
3. Verify that your time zone is displayed correctly in the drop down box.
4. Click “Register.”
5. You will be taken to the “Thank you for registering” page and will receive a confirmation email shortly thereafter.

Read More | 2 Comments | Filed in General, HIPAA

CMS Announces Contingency Plan for NPI Deadline

April 3rd, 2007 by Dan Rodrigues

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced today a contingency plan that extends the compliance date for the National Provider Identifier (NPI) to May 23, 2008 for covered entities that will not meet the May 23, 2007 deadline, but whom are making a “good faith effort” to do so.

You can read the full press release here: CMS Press Release on NPI Contingency Plan.

Basically, CMS is saying that they now realize that many covered entities will not be able to fully comply with the NPI standard by the May 23, 2007 deadline.  So they will not take any enforcement action on non-compliant entities if they can show CMS they are making a “good faith effort” to comply with the standards.  Some of the examples of good faith efforts include:

- For a health care provider, having obtained an NPI and having the ability to use it on HIPAA transactions.

- For a health plan, concerted efforts in advance of the May 23, 2007 deadline and continued efforts afterwards to conduct outreach and make testing opportunities available to its provider community.

- For other “trading partners”, increased external testing with other trading partners.

We don’t think you can interpret this announcement as a blanket extension of the NPI deadline.  Instead, we think CMS is basically saying, hey, let’s not kid ourselves, not everyone is ready for full NPI compliance and we need to give organizations a backup plan who are genuinely doing their best to implement the NPI standard.

We recommend Kareo customers continue at full throttle on their NPI transition.  We are ready for NPI today.  You can enter NPI numbers for practices, providers, service locations, and referring physicians in Kareo.  You can print out the new CMS 1500 form with NPI support.  And just a few weeks ago, we started sending NPIs in all outbound electronic claims.  So we recommend you take advantage of Kareo’s NPI support and make every effort to comply with the original May 23, 2007 deadline.

For more information about the National Provider Identifier (NPI) standards, please visit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services NPI resources page at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand/.

Read More | No Comments | Filed in HIPAA

Kareo Sending NPIs in All Electronic Claims

April 3rd, 2007 by Dan Rodrigues

A few weeks ago, we started sending National Provider Identifiers (NPIs) in all electronic claims to all payers, provided you have entered your NPIs in Kareo.

There are four areas where you enter NPI numbers in Kareo:

1. Practices – You can setup a group NPI number on the practice record by selecting the menu item Settings > Practice Information.

2. Providers – You can setup a provider NPI number on the provider record by selecting the menu item Settings > Providers.

3. Referring Physicians – You can setup a referring physician NPI number on the referring physician record by selecting the menu item Settings > Other Lists > Find Referring Physicians.

4. Service Locations – You can setup a service location NPI number on the service location record by selecting the menu item Settings > Service Locations.

We have taken every effort to minimize the risk of problems associated with sending NPI numbers in electronic claims.  However, as with any changes in your provider’s insurance claim stream, you may experience problems if your numbers are not setup properly or specific payers have difficulty accepting NPI numbers from Kareo.  You should be extremely vigilant in monitoring the system for rejections and initiating troubleshooting immediately with our customer support team if you notice any problems.

For more information about the National Provider Identifier (NPI) standards, please visit the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services NPI resources page at: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand/.

Read More | No Comments | Filed in HIPAA

Kareo and the National Provider Identifier (NPI)

July 19th, 2006 by Dan Rodrigues

There are too many numbering schemes in the U.S. to identify healthcare providers.  Most physicians today have a Social Security Number, Employer Identification Number, Drug Enforcement Administration number, State License Number, Medicare Provider Number, Medicaid Provider Number, Blue Cross Provider Number, CHAMPUS Provider Number, State Industrial Accident Provider Number, and on, and on, and on.   Keeping track of all of these numbers causes major problems in healthcare reimbursement.  But that’s about to change.

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) mandated that the Secretary of Health and Human Services adopt a standard unique identifier for health care providers.  It took nearly 10 years, but the National Provider Identifier (NPI) has finally arrived and the industry is fast preparing for the May 23, 2007 mandatory compliance date.

The NPI numbers are assigned by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.  The NPI is a numeric 10-digit identifier, consisting of 9 numbers plus a check-digit in the 10th position.  Healthcare providers can get more information at the National Provider Identifier web site or apply online at the National Plan and Provider Enumeration System web site.  Medicare recommends that you apply for an NPI immediately, but no later than November 2006.

There are certain timelines you need to know:

Jan 3, 2006 – Oct 1, 2006 – Medicare will accept claims with an NPI, but an existing legacy Medicare number must also be on the claim.  Medicare will reject, as unprocessable, any claim that includes only an NPI.

Oct 2, 2006 – May 22, 2007 – Medicare will accept an existing legacy Medicare billing number and/or an NPI on claims.  If there is any issue with the provider’s NPI and no Medicare legacy identifier is submitted, the provider may not be paid for the claim.

May 23, 2007 – Forward – Medicare will only accept NPI numbers.  Small health plans have an additional year to be NPI compliant.

Kareo is doing its part to comply with the NPI standards.  You can already setup an NPI as a provider number for a provider in your practice settings.  The NPI will be sent along with electronic claims today.  Also, Kareo will be supporting a new version of the CMS 1500 form designed to support NPI numbers by October 1, 2006.  If you have any questions about Kareo’s support for NPI, you can email support@kareo.com.

Read More | No Comments | Filed in HIPAA

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Welcome to Building Kareo, a weblog by the team at Kareo about our products, our partners & competitors, medical billing, healthcare information technology, and much more.

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