Billing and Documentation Update-Billing and Documentation Slides

Billing and Documentation Slides

Pdf Summary

The document provides an update on billing and documentation for critical care services, particularly in the context of changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Key topics include adult and pediatric critical care, services provided by advanced practice providers (APPs) in hospital settings, direct billing, split/shared visits, and examples of critical care scenarios.<br /><br />**Critical Care Billing and Medicare Audits:**  <br />- The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule will reduce average payment rates by 2.93% in 2025 compared to 2024. Changes will affect the conversion factor, which will decrease from 33.29 in 2024 to 32.35 in 2025.  <br />- Medicare has identified critical care billing as a target for audits due to high overpayments, with a notable improper payment rate of 19.7% for critical care in 2018. Specific issues include insufficient documentation and incorrect coding.<br /><br />**Critical Care Definition and Codes:**  <br />- Critical care is defined as the medical care of critically ill or injured patients, typically involving high-complexity decision-making and often multiple vital organ systems. Critical care codes (99291-99292) are time-based and require precise documentation of the time spent providing care.<br /><br />**Shared and Split Services:**  <br />- Critical care services may involve multiple healthcare providers, including APPs, under split/shared guidelines. Medicare allows combining critical care time by same-specialty practitioners within the same group. This aggregation must be medically necessary and not duplicative of other services.  <br />- Split/shared services require documentation of the substantive portion of the visit and appending a modifier FS.<br /><br />**Other Important Aspects:**<br />- Critical care can be billed separately from other E/M services if they are distinct and medically necessary, marked accordingly with modifier 25.<br />- Procedures provided within a global surgical period could be separately billed if they are unrelated to the surgery, using modifier FT.<br />- Documentation must detail organ systems at risk and interventions performed, emphasizing the necessity of the critical care provided. <br />- New billing rules highlight the need for accurate descriptions of time spent and services rendered, ensuring compliance with Medicare requirements.

Keywords

Critical Care Billing

Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

Advanced Practice Providers

Direct Billing

Split/Shared Visits

Medicare Audits

Critical Care Codes

Documentation

Modifier FS

Modifier 25

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