Long-Term Care Newsletters

Billing Alert for Long-Term Care CNA Training Advisor: Lesson Plans for Busy Staff Trainers PPS Alert for Long-Term Care

It's essential to know how to correctly submit your Medicare claims in order to get the reimbursement your facility deserves. Billing Alert for Long-Term Care provides the crucial tips and strategies that billers need for success.

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Billing Alert for Long-Term Care

Issue 12, December 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Learn good process for ICD-9 coding in your SNF

  By now most skilled nursing facilities (SNF) have their 2008 ICD-9-CM codebooks with the updated...

• Your UB-04s may be leaking Medicare money

  Editor's note: This article is the second in a two-part series about auditing your UB-04 billing...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh, president of The Heinbaugh Group, a long-term...

• Double-check your assessment indicator codes on Part A claims

  Assessment indicator codes-also known as HIPPS modifiers-aren't a high priority at most skilled...

Issue 11, November 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Leaves of absence affect consolidated billing status

  CMS has established that certain events trigger the end of a Medicare beneficiary's status as a...

• UB-04 audits can find potential lost reimbursement

  Editor's note: This article is the first in a two-part series about auditing your UB-04 billing...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "BALTC Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh, president of the Heinbaugh Group, a...

• Same-day transfers to participating providers: Don't bill Medicare

  CMS listed the subject of Transmittal 1252 as "Clarification of Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF...

Issue 10, October 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Submit default bills to subtract MA days from Part A benefit period

  CMS' Transmittal 1252 recently explained the circumstances when the requirement for a qualifying...

• Do you know what to do with an LOA?

  Leaves of absence (LOA) for Medicare Part A residents can cause real confusion among the business...

• Clarify the clinical team's role in effective ICD-9 coding

  ICD-9-CM coding is not the sole province of the business office, says Priscilla "Cil" Bullard, RN...

• Learn how to handle these MSP billing options to avoid confusion

  Editor's note: Part one of this two-part series about Medicare as Secondary Payer (MSP), which...

Issue 9, September 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Five steps to improve your ICD-9 coding accuracy

  The annual ICD-9-CM coding update takes effect October 1. It's not a major news flash; this happens...

• SNFs suffer default billing blues at the hands of CMS

  Skilled nursing facility (SNF) billers, do you think you know when you can bill the default rate...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh, president of the Heinbaugh Group, a long-term...

• MSP verification should be an admission function

  Editor's note: Part one of this two-part series about Medicare as Secondary Payer (MSP) reviews the...

Issue 8, August 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Check off these keys to successful collections

  Increasingly, many business offices in long-term care facilities are incurring significant backlogs...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "BALTC Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh, president of the Heinbaugh Group, a...

• CMS explains NPPES data dissemination

  Most nursing home billers agreed: The problem with the National Provider Identifier (NPI) system...

Issue 7, July 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Adjustment billing: Steer clear of common pitfalls

  Skilled nursing facilities (SNF) are required to submit adjustment request bills in order to...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh, president of the Heinbaugh Group, a long-term...

• Weekly A/R meetings keep payments on track in the billing department

  Some providers may have taken the guiding principle in the popular Don't Sweat the Small Stuff...

Issue 6, June 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• CMS: Some no-pay billing issues resolved, but not all

  CMS tackled several billing-related issues in the March Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF)/Long-Term...

• Billing default for missed PPS assessments under question

  As of April 30, fiscal intermediaries (FI) are required to use new automated MDS quality control...

• SNF pays for the ambulance trip to the MD office

  Under the Medicare Part B ambulance benefit, a physician's office is not a covered, payable...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "BALTC Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh of The Heinbaugh Group, a long-term care...

• Part A therapy requirements: Look to your contractor for assistance

  In late March, CMS rescinded Transmittal 65, which would have applied some of the current Part B...

Issue 5, May 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Accurate bad-debt logs can still bring in the money

  Maintaining an up-to-date Medicare bad-debt log should be a routine part of a facility's ongoing...

• Research remittance advices to capture money due

  A Medicare remittance advice is a notice of payments and adjustments sent to providers or their...

• UB-04 is here: Are you ready?

  On May 23, skilled nursing facilities (SNF) will no longer have the option of using the UB-92 to...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh of The Heinbaugh Group in Lakewood, OH.

Issue 4, April 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Common scenarios: How benefits exhaust claims work

  Benefits exhaust claims are still giving many providers trouble-either due to processing problems...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh of PMG, LLC, a long-term care consulting company...

Issue 3, March 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Consolidated billing: Take steps before a bill arrives to your SNF

  Editor's note: This is part two of a two-part series on the consolidated billing provision for...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh of PMG, LLC, a long-term care consulting company...

• Benefits exhaust and no-pay bills: Some answers, some new questions

  In April 2006, CMS issued Transmittal 930 (CR 4292...

Issue 2, February 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Consolidated billing: Common myths about exclusions vs. inclusions

  Under consolidated billing, skilled nursing facilities (SNF) must furnish services to Part A...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's Note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh of PMG, LLC, a long-term care consulting company...

• Part B blood-glucose billing: Is it worth the effort?

  Avoid problems in medical review and expensive appeals with these 12 tips At presstime, CMS had...

• CMS confirms limits on Part A qualifying hospital stay

  As billers know, one of the so-called "technical" benefit eligibility criteria for Medicare Part A...

Issue 1, January 1, 2007 - VIEW THE FULL ISSUE

• Use roster bills to solve flu season woes

  Flu season is definitely here-as it is every year from October 1 to March 31. However, ensuring...

• BALTC Q&A

  Editor's Note: "Q&A" was written by Lee Heinbaugh of PMG, LLC, a long-term care consulting company...

• Part B therapy: Bad news on the horizon

  Skilled nursing facilities that offer Medicare Part B therapy services face a financial crunch on...

• Did you know? Use guidelines to ensure accurate ICD-9 coding

  On October 26, 2006, CMS and the National Center for Health Statistics (NCHS) posted revised...