Benjamin Barlow, MD; Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC One of the biggest challenges facing urgent care operators is increased scrutiny in the form of payer reviews. More clients than ever are facing these administrative and financial burdens. Compounding the issue is that urgent care clinicians often struggle to understand coding guidelines and how to document in a way that shows their medical decision making, which is vital in care and in payer reviews. Prepayment …
Read MoreCoding Intravenous Infusions with Hydration; Medical Decision Making
DAVID STERN, MD (Practice Velocity) Q. We perform a lot of IV infusions in our urgent care facility. Sometimes we also perform IV pushes and hydration at the same time as the infusion. We have been billing CPT codes 36000, 96365 -59, 96360 -59, and 96374 -59. Medicare pays for these codes when we append the -59 modifier but I am concerned that this may not be the correct way to bill after reviewing some …
Read MoreA Recipe for Medical Decision Making
Lee A. Resnick, MD, FAAFP No other specialty requires more expertise in medical decision making than urgent care medicine. We specialize in the evaluation and management of the “undifferentiated patient,” with limited access to diagnostic and consultative resources. Our scope of care is one of the broadest in medicine, requiring breadth of knowledge across disciplines. Our patients are almost entirely new to us, giving us limited clinical and personal insight into their presentations. Finally, constraints …
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