New York Family Practice Billing: Capture Transitional Care Management Revenue in the 30-Day Window

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Family practices in New York are missing significant Transitional Care Management (TCM) revenue because services are not properly documented, tracked, or billed within the required 30-day window. When workflows are not aligned with TCM guidelines, eligible services go unbilled or are denied, resulting in preventable revenue loss. Transitional Care Management is designed to reimburse providers for coordinating care after a patient is discharged from a hospital or facility. While the opportunity is substantial, execution is where most practices fail. This is why many providers rely on specialized primary care billing services and medical billing services in New York to ensure compliance and maximize reimbursement. Why the 30-Day TCM Window Matters TCM billing is strictly tied to 30 days following patient discharge. To qualify for reimbursement, providers must meet specific requirements, including timely patient contact and follow-up visits. The first interaction must occur within...

Basics of Medicare Consolidated Billing for SNFs


Need for Consolidated Billing for SNFs

Prior to the Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA), a Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF) could elect to furnish services to a resident in a covered Part A stay, either, directly using its own resources; through the SNF's transfer agreement hospital; or under arrangements with an independent therapist (for physical, occupational, and speech therapy services). In each of these circumstances, the SNF billed Medicare Part A for the services.

However, the SNF also had the further option of ‘unbundling’ a service altogether; that is, the SNF could permit an outside supplier to furnish the service directly to the resident, and the outside supplier would submit a bill to Medicare Part B, without any involvement of the SNF itself.

This practice created several problems, including the following:

  • Potential for duplicate (Parts A/B) billing if both the SNF and outside supplier billed;
  • An increased out-of-pocket liability incurred by the beneficiary for the Part B deductible and coinsurance even if only the supplier billed; and
  • A dispersal of responsibility for resident care among various outside suppliers adversely affected quality (coordination of care) and program integrity

Then Balanced Budget Act of 1997 (BBA), was enacted, containing a Consolidated Billing (CB) requirement for SNFs. Under the CB requirement, an SNF itself must submit all Medicare claims for the services that its residents receive. Conceptually, SNF CB resembles the bundling requirement for inpatient hospital services that's been in effect since the early 1980s, assigning to the facility itself the Medicare billing responsibility for virtually the entire package of services that a facility resident receives, except for certain services that are specifically excluded.

To get more information about Medicare Consolidated Billing for SNFs click here: https://bit.ly/3vmPAjQ. Get in touch with us at: info@medicalbillersandcoders.com/ 888-357-3226.

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