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Each month in the Radiology Administrator's Compliance & Reimbursement Insider, you get strategies and techniques used by leading hospitals, medical groups, and imaging centers to comply with Medicare, Medicaid, and other regulatory requirements. Now with free eTools!

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Radiology Administrator's Compliance and Reimbursement Insider

Issue 12, December 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Tips to obtain payment, despite plan denials

  Sometimes, a plan will mistakenly verify coverageor preauthorize a service, and later refuse to pay...

• CMS issues test order signature clarification

  CMS recently released an update to the Medicare Benefit Policy Manual, clarifying physician...

Issue 11, November 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• ICD-10 execution date proposed: October 1, 2011

  ICD-10 no longer represents some distant, implausible menace. Years of speculation came to a sudden...

• Address test order protocol in hospital setting

  Radiologists in freestanding imaging centers and private practice must get an order from a treating...

Issue 10, October 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• 2009 MPFS offers imaging implications

  On June 30, CMS posted its proposed updates to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for 2009...

• MIPPA mandates imaging accreditation for all providers

  Are you ready for accreditation? The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008...

Issue 9, September 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Self-disclosure protocol clarified

  If you suspect billing mistakes in your radiology department, contact your facility's compliance...

• Common elements found in CIAs

  The OIG offers providers the option of settling civil healthcare fraud and abuses cases through a...

• Technologists play a major role in the revenue cycle

  Editor's note: This excerpt from the Radiology Technologist's Coding Compliance Handbook will help...

Issue 8, August 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• IDTFs get Claims Processing Manual chapter of their own

  Previously, the Medicare Claims Processing Manual contained no specific instructions regarding...

• Eight tips to improve MRI throughput

  As reimbursements shrink and radiology becomes more competitive, smart radiology practice...

Issue 7, July 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Settlement reveals lessons for radiologists

  Fred Steinberg, MD, of University MRI in Palm Beach County, FL, will pay the federal government $7...

• Medicare preserves local coverage determination for CCTA

  There's good news for patients with heart disease. CMS has decided not to restrict reimbursement...

Issue 6, June 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Take care of the needs of your aging work force

  American productivity will likely depend on the efforts of workers aged 50 or older, according to a...

• Target safety issues to ensure older workers' well-being

  The lack of a safety plan to meet older workers' needs could cost facilities more later in the form...

• Don't let chart errors lead to further medical mistakes

  Tragedies such as wrong-site surgeries can take a healthy kidney and leave a cancerous one: this...

Issue 5, May 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Prevent accidents and injuries in the MRI suite

  In 2001, a boy died after a metal oxygen container was drawn into an MRI unit (by the MRI magnet's...

• Set policy to comply with MRI safety requirements

  To ensure that your MRI suite operates safely, your facility should develop a policy to reflect the...

• How to determine possible anti-kickback statute violations

  Consider: A radiology group furnishes services to a small critical access hospital on an exclusive...

Issue 4, April 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Reduce risks of radiation in children's CT scans

  In the past decade, patients' exposure to medical radiation increased due to advancements in CT...

• Exam offers benefits for radiology/IT professionals

  If your radiology department or imaging center is like many others, you're still looking for a good...

• Know the risks before meeting with compliance vendors

  Vendors who want to sell you equipment or drugs that will allow your radiologists to perform a new...

Issue 3, March 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• HOPPS favors wholesale packaging payments

  The biggest change to the 2008 Medicare hospital outpatient prospective payment system (HOPPS) has...

• Radiology to bear brunt of Stark II, Phase III implications

  Make sure your radiology group is up to speed about Stark changes. The Stark II, Phase III final...

Issue 2, February 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Arm your staff to avoid common coding mistakes

  Radiology practice revenue is greatly affected by coding mistakes. Claims that contain coding...

• Start writing: Good documentation can help reimbursement in radiology department

  Break out the pens and start writing. Physicians who document what they do in the radiology...

• A controversial device: Opinions heat up about CAD; FDA keeps close watch, and radiologists should, too

  To CAD or not to CAD? That is the question for those who use the equipment as a second pair of...

Issue 1, January 1, 2008 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE | A PDF OF THE FULL ISSUE

• Maintaining the house while the house is in repair

  It is a well-known fact: The healthcare industry is as competitive as ever. With competition comes...

• 2007: The year of the Deficit Reduction Act

  The year 2007 for radiologists and imaging specialists will perhaps be remembered as the year the...

• Right to the heart of it

  Cardiac computed tomography (CCT) and cardiac computed tomographic angiography (CCTA) offer...