Podcasts

The CodeCast Podcast | Medical Billing & Coding Insights

The Business Side of Medicine ~ Coding, Reimbursement and Compliance for Physician Practices

National Speaker and Healthcare Consultant, Auditor and Educator, Terry Fletcher CPC, CCC, CEMC, CCS, CCS-P, CMC, CMSCS, CMCS, ACS-CA, SCP-CA, knows from over 25 years medical reimbursement industry experience that Coding, Billing and Compliance for physician practices and hospitals can be tough to navigate. Her CodeCast® Podcast series will share insights to current rules and regulations the Medicare payer requires, along with Commercial insurance plans’ rules and reimbursement challenges. Discover revenue opportunities to maximize reimbursement in your medical practice, focusing on different medical specialties and platforms each episode.

You can also subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Coding vs. Billing

In the medical field, August is when coders and billers get a bit of a breather. They can catch up on work since most physicians are on vacation. As such, we invite you to tune in as we get back to the basics and the fundamentals of physician practice coding and billing.

In the spirit of getting things done, today’s episode talks about the differences in coding versus billing: and where the two intersect. While providing patient care is the number one priority of a medical practice, best practices in the coding and billing office are part of patient care.

Terry will also discuss the process of translating diagnoses to ICD-10 Codes, Procedures and Services to CPT and HCPCS Codes, and how to avoid common coding and billing errors.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 36:28 — 50.2MB)

Why coding and documentation audits are more important than ever

All HIM leaders know that coding and quality audits are critical. Consequences of substandard coding, lost revenue, increased denials, and greater compliance risk make the development of a coding audit program a priority for healthcare providers of all sizes.

Unfortunately, scarce resources and conflicting priorities force many providers to compromise their compliance and auditing programs: or never even think about performing an audit.

This week, Terry Fletcher dives into proving why audits of coding and documentation quality are critical to the success of healthcare providers. While it may seem a daunting task, the benefits and money you can immediately see outweigh those concerns.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:27 — 42.0MB)

CMS breaking news: biggest change proposal in two decades for E/M

In what would be the biggest change in two decades, CMS is proposing to re-define the documentation requirements for E&M Coding in 2019. They are proposing to forego the 1995 and 1997 guidelines for what is being reported as a “simpler model” and a “patient over paperwork” concept.

But what isn’t being addressed is the huge financial impact this will have for specialty physicians across the board. There is only a 60-day window where physicians, specialty societies and AMA can comment on these changes.

That window ends September 10th, 2018: so time is of the essence!

Terry breaks down everything you need to know so that you are informed when you fight for what is rightfully yours.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:16 — 43.1MB)

Social media mistakes with medical practices

A medical practice is a business: and like any other business, customer satisfaction is a key component to success.

Your social media presence is an important factor in your customer’s satisfaction. More than 40% of consumers say that information found via social media affects the way they deal with their health.

In other words, having social media profiles is not enough!

There are many benefits to remaining active on the various platforms out there, as social media can increase your search results, boost reviews, draw in new leads, target ideal patients for unique high revenue services, drive traffic to your website, increase your brand awareness, and so much more!

Social media is a powerful marketing tool but all too often it is done wrong when it comes to the healthcare industry.

The Codecast podcast this week will draw your attention to some of the most common social media mistakes healthcare professionals make and how to correct them.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 31:00 — 42.7MB)

Best practice tips for collecting patient balances

Collecting money from patients for their “share of cost” of the medical bill can be a daunting task: but recent studies have shown that the patient portion of outstanding balances is now approximately 23% of medical practice revenue if they hope to stay private.

This week’s podcast will deliver a number of easily-adoptable options, policies, techniques and scripts that can be used by almost any practice to improve patient collections.

Join me for this importation discussion as we talk money and your practice health.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 30:47 — 42.4MB)

How to hire an office manager

An office manager is one of the most important hires a medical practice can make.

As office manager is responsible for overseeing all of the details of running the practice. They are invaluable for allowing the physician to focus on treating patients instead of being tied up with administrative duties.

So, what goes into making this important hire?

Terry spoke to some experts in the medical industry for their input. Along with her own expertise in the office hiring and firing process, she gives you the top tips on how to successfully hire the right manager for your practice.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 25:38 — 35.4MB)

HIPAA and Text Messaging

Under the Health Insurance Accountability and Portability Act (HIPAA) healthcare providers must maintain the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of all ePHI created and transmitted by a covered entity.

But what about text messaging? Do text messages fall under HIPAA or Civil Rights laws?

In this episode of the CodeCast Podcast, Terry addresses how texting, as a form of communicating ePHI, can put a practice at some level of risk.

She also shares some safeguards you can put into play now to protect your practice.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 20:38 — 28.5MB)

Top 10 Tuesday Q&A – June 26th, 2018

The Top 10 Tuesday Q&A returns this week with questions from all over the country. Terry addresses a number of topics pulled directly from the top onDemand Coding Corner network questions, such as “cheat sheets”, Telehealth, OIG insight, and finger injections to name a few.

Ms. Fletcher also covers questions about whether afterhours care is a billable service, while ICD-10-CM finds its way into several of the questions on today’s show.

Join us for our fun interactive topic of Coding Q&A this week, as well as a sneak peek at a new topic of “Best Practices” patient payment improvement tips.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 29:37 — 40.8MB)

Simple mistakes can lead to a major loss of revenue

Simple mistakes can always make life harder for any healthcare or business professional. But in a medical coding and billing office, these simple mistakes can lead to thousands of dollars in lost revenue for physicians and their practices.

This episode of the CodeCast Podcast not only focuses on how to easily fix these simple mistakes, plus tackles patient satisfaction tips that can also impact your bottom line. Terry also closes out the show with important questions and answers about the sensitive topic of “transgender” coding and documentation along with its reimbursement challenges.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 32:16 — 44.5MB)

Physician Query

In this episode of the CodeCast Podcast Terry addresses how, and when, to “query” a physician and/or provider to clarify patient health record accuracy. A physician query can be used as a communication tool when there are conflicting, imprecise, incomplete, ambiguous or inconsistent documentation entries in a patient medical record. In addition, you will also learn when it is important, and appropriate, to query a physician.

Terry offers 12 tips to assist you in writing an effective query that will get the answers you need to do your job as a coding and billing professional. Ms. Fletcher will also share AHIMA’s insight to this important daily job function of every coder.

Subscribe and Listen

You can subscribe to our podcasts via:

If you’d like to become a sponsor of the CodeCast podcast please contact us directly for pricing: https://www.terryfletcher.net/contact/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 21:59 — 30.3MB)