[VIDEO] Advice for staying on top of the ever-changing radiology-specific codes.
The radiology coding risks are plentiful and ever-changing, Melody Mulaik, MSHS, president and co-founder, Coding Strategies, Inc., said at AHRA 2014.
Mulaik touched on specific current challenges like the updates to PET guidance, and documentation for CTAs and ultrasound - some of which tend to be recurring themes but topics that are necessary to continue to revisit to stay on top of the documentation.
“We should do what’s ordered, we should document what we do, we should code for what’s documented,” Mulaik said.
A number of combined codes were introduced in 2014, Mulaik said, a trend that she predicts will continue as we move into 2015. The interventional and breast procedure areas will likely see the most changes, she said.
In regards to audits, Mulaik said it’s important for everyone to know where their particular risks are. Once these are identified, find out what the auditors are looking for, she said. “Going to the OIG’s web site, looking at the key items in the work plan, looking at other investigations that they’ve done…anytime we hear of a radiology issue or a practice being audited for an issue, look at that within our own organization and it helps to identify key areas of concern.”
Editor’s Note: At the time of this taping, the recent CMS reimbursement changes had not yet been announced. On October 31, 2014, CMS issued new codes for breast tomosynthesis with a 0.6 physician work RVU.
A Victory for Radiology: New CMS Proposal Would Provide Coverage of CT Colonography in 2025
July 12th 2024In newly issued proposals addressing changes to coverage for Medicare services in 2025, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced its intent to provide coverage of computed tomography colonography (CTC) for Medicare beneficiaries in 2025.
The Reading Room: Artificial Intelligence: What RSNA 2020 Offered, and What 2021 Could Bring
December 5th 2020Nina Kottler, M.D., chief medical officer of AI at Radiology Partners, discusses, during RSNA 2020, what new developments the annual meeting provided about these technologies, sessions to access, and what to expect in the coming year.
ACR Collaborative Model Leads to 35 Percent Improvement with Mammography Positioning Criteria
July 1st 2024Noting significant variation with facilities for achieving passing criteria for mammography positioning, researchers found that structured interventions, ranging from weekly auditing of images taken by technologists to mechanisms for feedback from radiologists to technologists, led to significant improvements in a multicenter study.
New Study Shows Non-Radiologists Interpreting 28 Percent of Imaging for Medicare Patients
June 28th 2024While radiologists interpreted approximately 99 percent of all non-cardiac CT, MRI and nuclear medicine studies in hospital and emergency department settings for Medicare beneficiaries, new research shows significantly less radiologist review of cardiac imaging and office-based imaging.