2009 Cardiology Billing

This year marks to be one of the important years in medical billing and coding reformation system. Since 1990, this has been the most important change in the cardiology billing and coding system. The alternation in this year's billing system is sure to hit the cardiologists hard. Instead of 1% increase of the average physicians, the cardiologists this year finds a 2% per cent reduction in Medicare fees. But this 2% reduction in Medicare for cardiology can not be applied uniformly. There is a group of cardiology practitioners, like the heavy users of echo services, that remains above this reduction in cardiology billing.

Following are some of the recommended modifications for cardiological billing and coding:

• The codes used for follow-up on implanted devices and external devices have been completely replaced. The revised version now include codes for reprogramming of ICD and ICM devices, Loop recorders, Pacemaker and interrogation.
• The new codes are service specific. The most important is that every service now has its own specific corresponding code. Be it interrogation evaluation of a programming or reprogramming of ICD or ICM device, there is an assigned code for everything.
• Devices, such as, Cardionet also have codes now. The concept of billing unlisted code has become completely obsolete because of the recent change in billing and coding system.
• The global period of device follow-up is now changed to global periods of 30 or 90 days.
• The echo services also got its new code, for example, when echo is done with the help of a Doppler, now it gets a new code to submit that bunch of service into a single code.
• The same holds true for new stress echo code. The stress echo code combines the stress test code and stress echo code in a single code.

These are some of the major modifications of the cardiological billing system of 2009. The medical billing companies should be aware and well versed about these changes. A slight mistake or misconception might result in a huge loss. So 2009 is the time for the medical billing companies to upgrade and update itself to the latest changes in the cardiological billing and coding system.

Medical Billing

Medical Billing is a liaison between the insurance company and the healthcare service provider. It refers to the process of submission and following up of claims to an insurance company for the services rendered by a healthcare provider. Medical Billing has always been an integral part of medical insurance.

With time, Medical Billing has developed into an industry with an annual revenue of about $2 million. It is a full fledged industry that includes, billing professionals, software developers developing the software for Medical Billing, healthcare service providers and of course the insurance companies.

In the last few years, medical billing was processed through paper work. However, with the advent of the Medical Practice Management Software, otherwise known as Health Information System, has enabled to manage large amount of claims efficiently. Software companies are coming up to provide medical billing software as they find this market to be particularly lucrative.

Owing to the rapid change of the US health insurance, many new aspects of medical billing have been created. Some of these new additions require specialized training. Hence several schools and institutions are coming up with specialized training programs for trained professionals in medical billing.

In order to provide service efficiently and promptly, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) came into being. It describes certain rules and regulations that doctors, hospitals, healthcare providers and health plans must follow while rendering medical service. From 2005, it has urged to send claims through e-mails so that there is no difficulty in receiving payments.

The introduction of HIPAA has been a huge challenge not only for the healthcare service providers and medical billing companies, but also for the patients as they have got into more waivers and paperwork. A typical billing process starts only after the physician or his staff creates or updates a patient’s medical record.

A medical record contains demographic information about the patient and summary of the treatment. It contains information on the disease of the patient, diagnosis, medication and also the mode of treatment. Once the level of service is determined, it is immediately transformed to five digit procedure code. The verbal code is changed to numerical code. These two codes are the determining factors in medical billing.

At Promantra, we provide expertise service in getting reimbursement for your medical bills. We assure you impeccable services from Generation of Claims till the Payment. Our experienced staff is well-versed in Carrier Follow Up and can surely bring back that smile of relief. We have a band of trained professionals that hold years of experience in Medical Billing.

Data security and quality management are given topmost priority at Promantra. Our ISO 27001:2005 and ISO 9001:2000 bear testimony to it. As recognition of our service, NASCOMM has awarded us as one of the Top 100 IT Innovators. With an extensive knowledge and experience in providing end-to-end services for the healthcare BPO, we know the most effective way to get payments for your Medical Bills. So if you are worried about your Medical Bills- Promantra is the right place to approach.