Medical Billers and Coders

  Did you know that since October 2013 physicians need to conduct a face-to-face interview with the proposed beneficiaries before ordering durable medical equipment? This is one of the rules specified by Medicare, which further clarifies the need to document the data in the patient’s records. A copy of this medical record needs to be sent to the supplier of the ordered DME. Documentation-  During such a face-to-face meeting there needs to be enough documentation in the relevant parts of the patient’s medical records justifying the beneficiary’s eligibility for the particular piece of durable medical equipment ordered on behalf of the patient. The physician also needs to be familiar with the Medicare policy requirements for the same. The particular policy clearly explains the specific conditions that qualify a patient for that particular DME. The relevant documentation of the medical record needs to be furnished with the suppliers of the DME   who will need it before th...

  Improper Payment Reasons Durable Medical Equipment (DME) suppliers of surgical dressings and physicians submit claims for surgical dressings and CMS covers it under the surgical dressings benefit i.e., SSA Section 1861[s][5]. CMS recently published Medicare Fee-for-Service (FFS) improper Medicare payments rate for surgical dressings for the 2020 reporting period. For this reporting period, the improper payment rate for surgical dressings was 67.3 percent, with a projected improper payment amount of over $194.9 million. For the 2020 reporting period, insufficient documentation accounted for 82.4 percent of improper Medicare payments for surgical dressings. Additional types of errors for surgical dressings in the 2020 reporting period were no documentation (1.9 percent), medical necessity (1.7 percent), incorrect coding (1.9 percent), and other (12.2 percent).  Avoiding Improper Medicare Payments All claims billed to Medicare require a written order or prescription from t...

  Durable medical equipment billing is the process by which insurance companies are charged for the services provided to their clients. And to achieve complete reimbursement dollars billing codes that represent different aspects of the DME process are implemented. In this blog, here our experts shared information on specialization Considerations for DME Suppliers in Medical Billing. The characters the biller enters relate to different aspects of a diagnosis or procedure and allow the information to be uploaded for billing without having to manually define either diagnosis or procedure. This allows the process to be implemented faster without having to describe everything in detail. When we talk about specialization consideration in DME suppliers’ one specialty that often crosses the supplier’s path is Orthopedics. Orthopedic facilities often provide patients with supplies, such as casts and canes, which are integral to patients’ treatment plans. What DME supplies can be used f...

  In  DME medical billing , your DME coders require correct HCPCS codes and correct modifiers for providing more details about the equipment. If your medical coders cannot use modifiers or not correctly use them, then the insurance company may deny the claims. Some common DME modifiers include RR- rental, UE- purchase of used equipment, and NU- purchase of new equipment. Know your DME HCPCS Codes When a laboratory demand, request for DME is being filled, medical coders will be needed for  ICD-10  codes for a patient’s diagnosis. To use an appropriate HCPCS code for the DME item, many  HCPCS  codes need a modifier. Modifiers are used to provide more details about the DME item. e.g. The modifier might indicate to HMSA that an item is new, rented on a capped basis, or rented. For capped rentals, modifiers differentiate which month’s rental is being billed. If your billers misuse these modifiers then the claim will be rejected. To speed up this process of ...

  Physicians who are part of DME services now face an important operational decision: whether to persist with in-house billing staff or entrust to external sources. The long-held belief that in-house billing staff would manage DME-related billing complexities seems to have failed them recently – most of the in-house-staff-managed DME billing are reported to have high incidence denial, delay, or under the realization of DME bills from Medicare, Medicaid, and private DME health plans.  And, now that physicians strongly feel the reason to replace in-house DME billing, should they be embracing outsourced DME billing straight away? Yes, but not before they debated the pros and cons of DME billing outsourcing. Arguments in favor of DME Billing Outsourcing The primary argument in favor of outsourcing DME billing is that it will bring a fresh perspective to hitherto stereotyped practices – outsourced DME billing providers, with their specialization, could iron out deficienci...

  There is a distinctive difference between billing for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) services and other clinical procedures – durable medical equipment services are ancillary to the primary clinical purpose, and their admissibility is subject to certain conditions. One of the best ways to overcome the DME billing challenges is outsourcing the DME billing services and RCM system.  Physicians since long have found these conditions tricky and challenging to understand, and often either been denied or underpaid for DME services, which may either have been Deemed medical unnecessary, Uncertified by Medicare/Medicaid/private health insurers, Beyond the permissible reimbursement level Lack of solid grounding in the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS), which governs level II codes designated for DME equipment and supplies While physicians have the right to recommend DMEs as part of clinical treatment, they will have to back their recommendation with sufficie...

  The necessity of Durable Medical Equipments (DMEs) had never been so high – in the U.S. 30% to 54% of those over 65 years have some form of disability; around 75% to 90% of such disabled require some form of DME to keep them mobile or enabled.  It is also estimated that around 1.5 million people are currently in need of wheelchairs and braces. And, when you add the population that is likely to be in need of other forms of durable medical equipment – prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies (DMEPOS) – it will be some opportunity for people involved in Durable Medical Equipment Practice Services: physicians, pharmacies, and manufacturers/suppliers. But, because DME services are physician-recommended, we are more interested in how physicians themselves can recommend, source, and administer DMEs. While physicians can benefit immensely from an integrated DME management, there are challenges on the way – being equipped with a Medicare-enrolled and recognized pharmacy, sourcing suppl...

ICD-10 and DME Billing DME billing is the process of submitting and receiving payment for a claim from the insurance company. Implementing, maintaining, and educating staff on proper billing is vital to a DME provider’s success. The challenges facing Durable Medical Equipment (DME) organizations with the upcoming ICD-10 coding system are plenty. Although the DME you bill for will still employ the same HCPCS codes, the actual difference will be in the diagnosis coding itself. Firstly, the transition from ICD-9 to the new ICD-10 coding system has led to an increase in the number of codes for procedures from 3,824 to 71,924 and simultaneously has also increased the number of codes for diagnosis from 14,025 to 69,823. Secondly, there are few one-to-one, cross-walked codes in the ICD-10 Thirdly, it is a known fact that the DME providers receive meager information from the physician to convert the codes accurately thus leading to delays in claims causing a shortage in cash flow. ...

  Long-standing concerns in DME (Durable Medical Equipment) known for unquestionable billing practices, led the government to take action for tackling fraud in the insurance industry. Medicare, the nation’s largest health insurance program, regulates the billing structure of the maximum number of healthcare providers. Due to its highly fragmented nature, Medicare is prone to widespread fraud thereby rising healthcare costs, taxes, and premiums. DME billing is  the process of submitting and receiving payment for a claim from the insurance company . Medicare pays for services given to the severely sick/disabled at home such as wheelchairs, arthritis kits, etc. But many DME companies supply cheap or bad quality equipment at good quality equipment rates to make profits or sometimes bill Medicare for equipment never provided. To crack down, on this fraud, the Centers for  Medicare & Medicaid Services  (CMS) issued new rules catering toward reducing needless consump...

  All healthcare providers are searching for a streamlined DME billing operation team that may handle their DME billing process without much hassle. According to MarketWatch, the worldwide marketplace for Durable Medical Equipment (DME) is predicted to achieve up to USD 246.6 billion by the year 2026. This rise is predicted because of the advantages that DME products like a wheelchair, nebulizers, canes, crutches, walkers, etc. wear to people. Besides making patient’s life easy, DME products also help these patients live a life without much pain making them independent. Streamline your DME Billing with MBC The right process will make your DME billing and coding process all the stronger and help you get closer to your payments. Besides the above benefits, technological advancement within the DME medical equipment is additionally another reason for the increase of the DME market and in fact, the rising geriatric population. As old people are more prone to chronic diseases and requ...

  Durable Medical Equipment (DME) is equipment that includes oxygen supplies, wheelchairs, iron lungs, catheters, etc. As you are starting a Durable Medical Equipment (DME) company, be prepared with time on hand, money, endurance, and determination; as it ultimately boils down to being paid for the products sold by your company. This means receiving DME bills from clients (patients/healthcare providers) and accepting the insurance, billing the insurance, and finally receiving payments for the  DME billing  from the insurance provider- is called  Credentialing For DME  Companies. DME business also referred to as Home Medical Equipment business is replete with potholes along the way which need to be cleared. One of them is ‘ Provider Credentialing .’ Credentialing simply denotes verification. It’s also known as DME credentialing, DME medical credentialing, DME provider enrollment, insurance credentialing, or getting on insurance panels. These terms imply that t...

As any durable medical equipment (DME) provider will confess, securing reimbursements from Medicare and private insurance carriers is one of the biggest challenges of running a DME business. It’s time-consuming and labor-intensive, and for all their effort, DME providers don’t always get full reimbursements. If not paid attention, inaccurate DME billing could lead to lower revenues and, in worst-case scenarios, cause DMEs to windup their business. Outsourcing your DME billing services to reliable medical billing companies like  MedicalBillersandCoders (MBC)  could be a smart and efficient way to get maximum reimbursements and countless other benefits. Some of the Benefits of Outsourcing DME Billing services are listed below.  Benefits of Outsourcing DME Billing to Improve Your Revenue Less Billing Errors DME billing offers a unique set of challenges. It includes coordinating with different parties and requires an understanding of the HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedur...

  Durable Medical Equipment Billing  is different from the other  medical billing  and  coding  for the specialties. Unlike the other coders and billers who work on DME need specialized training to deal with different medical situations and equipment that require different types of modifiers as requested.  DME billers need specialized in-depth, specialized knowledge of different types of HCPCS Level 2 codes. Let’s understand the procedures of coding that can be implemented to make the billing process more effective: ICD-9 codes are 3-5 digits in length and speak to the patient’s conclusion CPT restorative charging codes are in fact HCPCS Level I codes. They are 5 digits in length and speak to the methodology performed at the patient’s visit HCPCS codes are in fact HCPCS Level II codes. They incorporate the two numbers and letters and are likewise 5 digits in length. These codes speak to the majority of the provisions or gear utilized in the pati...

On 4 th  April 2022, CMS published a rule on “suspension of prior authorization requirements for orthoses prescribed and furnished urgently or under special circumstances”. Prior authorization helps Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics, and Supplies (DMEPOS) suppliers ensure that applicable Medicare coverage, payment, and coding rules are met before DMEPOS items are delivered. The prior authorization program helps to protect the Medicare Trust Fund from improper payments while ensuring that beneficiaries can receive the DMEPOS items they need in a timely manner. CMS maintains a master list of DMEPOS items that requires either a face-to-face encounter and written order or prior authorization requirements. You will find the updated list  here . Due to the need for certain patients to receive an orthoses item that may otherwise be subject to prior authorization when the two-day expedited review would delay care and risk the health or life of the beneficiary, CMS susp...

Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Billing   is different from the other   medical billing   and   coding   for the specialties. Unlike the other coders and billers who work on DME need specialized training to deal with different medical situations and equipment that require different types of modifiers as requested.  DME billers need specialized in-depth, specialized knowledge of different types of HCPCS Level 2 codes. Let’s understand the procedures of coding that can be implemented to make the billing process more effective: ICD-9 codes are 3-5 digits in length and speak to the patient’s conclusion CPT restorative charging codes are in fact HCPCS Level I codes. They are 5 digits in length and speak to the methodology performed at the patient’s visit HCPCS codes are in fact HCPCS Level II codes. They incorporate the two numbers and letters and are likewise 5 digits in length. These codes speak to the majority of the provisions or gear utilized in the patient...

All healthcare providers are searching for a streamlined   DME billing   operation team that may handle their DME billing process without much hassle. According to MarketWatch, the worldwide marketplace for  Durable Medical Equipment (DME)  is predicted to achieve up to USD 246.6 billion by the year 2026. This rise is predicted because of the advantages that DME products like a wheelchair, nebulizers, canes, crutches, walkers, etc. wear for people. except from making patient’s life easy, the DME products also help these patients live a life without much pain making them independent. Besides the above benefits, technological advancement within the DME medical equipment is additionally another reason for the increase of the DME market and in fact, the rising geriatric population. As old people are more prone to chronic diseases, requiring extended care that involves more of the DME products for leaving a simple life. As per the report, the worldwide DME market is ...

As any durable medical equipment (DME) provider will confess, securing reimbursements from Medicare and private insurance carriers is one of the biggest challenges of running a DME business. It’s time-consuming and labor-intensive, and for all their effort, DME providers don’t always get full reimbursements. If not paid attention, inaccurate DME billing could lead to lower revenues and, in worst-case scenarios, cause DMEs to windup their business. Outsourcing your DME billing services to reliable medical billing companies like  MedicalBillersandCoders (MBC)  could be a smart and efficient way to get maximum reimbursements and countless other benefits. Some of the Benefits of Outsourcing DME Billing services are listed below.  Benefits of Outsourcing DME Billing to Improve Your Revenue Less Billing Errors DME billing offers a unique set of challenges. It includes coordinating with different parties and requires an understanding of the HCPCS (Healthcare Common Procedure Com...

Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Billing   is different from the other   medical billing   and   coding   for the specialties. Unlike the other coders and billers who work on DME need specialized training to deal with different medical situations and equipment that require different types of modifiers as requested.  DME billers need specialized in-depth, specialized knowledge of different types of HCPCS Level 2 codes. Let’s understand the procedures of coding that can be implemented to make the billing process more effective: ICD-9 codes are 3-5 digits in length and speak to the patient’s conclusion CPT restorative charging codes are in fact HCPCS Level I codes. They are 5 digits in length and speak to the methodology performed at the patient’s visit HCPCS codes are in fact HCPCS Level II codes. They incorporate the two numbers and letters and are likewise 5 digits in length. These codes speak to the majority of the provisions or gear utilized in the patient...

A few things in life are exceptionally easy and straightforward. Unfortunately, purchasing things such as splints, prosthetics, and durable medical equipment ( DME ) – and figuring out which orthotics are covered by insurance – isn't so cut and dried. In fact, a ton can turn out badly with regards to orthotics and prosthetics billing. Thus, to make sure your patients get with they need – and you get paid what you merit – stick to the accompanying rules.  The information beneath alludes to how Medicare reimburses for prosthetics and orthotics and doesn't necessarily reflect how commercial payers repay for these medications. At the same time, many commercial insurance payers align themselves with Medicare policies, so this should fill in as a decent general guide.  For prosthetics, Medicare reimbursement includes evaluation, fitting, parts and labor, repairs due to normal wear or tear within the initial 90 days of the delivery date, and adjustments made during the fitting and wi...

According to the Medicare Program Integrity Manual, Chapter 5 (Things and Administrations Having Special DME Survey Considerations), before you dispense any DMEPOS thing to a beneficiary, you need to have an order from the treating physician. Please note that this article is planned for providers billing Durable Medical Equipment (DME) MACs for Durable Medical Equipment Prosthetics, Orthotics Supplies (DMEPOS) provided to Medicare beneficiaries.  Verbal or preliminary composed orders: Providers may dispense most things of DMEPOS based on a verbal order or a preliminary composed order from the treating physician/practitioner.  Detailed composed orders needed before claim submission: A detailed composed order may be a photocopy, facsimile image, electronic, or pen-and-ink original document. For all things, the provider shall have a detailed composed order prior to submitting a claim.  It needs to have a description of the thing to incorporate all alternatives or additional ...