Tag: Kelly Wolfe
Accreditation: Go beyond documentation
April 1, 2019Kelly Wolfe
A. One of the accreditation requirements is to have and maintain a performance management plan. Although providers provide this documentation at the initial accreditation survey, many fail to implement it after the survey. This is an important factor and requirement to maintain your accreditation. This is also a valuable tool to help your company correct issues and make you shine above the competition.Your performance management plan should measure billing practices, adverse events and consumer services....
Accreditation: Don't get it and forget it
February 22, 2019Kelly Wolfe
A. DME accreditation needs to be renewed every three years. With the initial accreditation most DME supplies take the time to prepare and get ready for the survey. Many hire the expertise of a consultant and sweat it out waiting for the site survey. They spend hours preparing to make sure they will pass. They have a policy and procedure manual, forms, and knowledge they learned during the process.It is expected that you are following all the standards and adhering to the policies you have in place....
Accreditation: Plan carefully to avoid pitfalls
January 24, 2019Kelly Wolfe
A. 2019 is a big year for the HME industry when it comes to accreditation renewals and adding product categories to your line of business. Many providers are considering adding new lines of business since the lifting of competitive bidding until January of 2021. Please make sure and be aware that any item you decide to provide needs to be updated with not only your accrediting body but the National Supplier Clearinghouse as well. If you are in a state that has licensure, you may need to do...
Reporter's notebook: Crash course in charting and other calamities
September 26, 2014Liz Beaulieu, Editor
For years, HME providers have been trying to teach physicians what they need to include in their chart notes, often to no avail, says Sarah Hanna, president of ECS Billing & Consulting North.But the transition to ICD-10 may be the thing that finally gets through to them, she says.“How a physician gets paid corresponds to a diagnosis procedure code,” she said. “Well guess what, to prove medical necessity for an ICD-10 code, which is more specific, you have to chart in a way that...
Consultants offer collections advice
June 20, 2014Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
It's no secret that providers have historically shied away from going after beneficiaries who are slow to pay, but in an environment where every dollar counts that's changing, say consultants. Here, they offer a few basic—and practically free—tips to help providers get what they are owed.Be upfrontLet the beneficiary know before they walk out the door how much he or she is going to have to pay, says consultant Kelly Wolfe.“The providers I see have a good return rate if they just...
Collecting at any cost
June 13, 2014Theresa Flaherty, Managing Editor
YARMOUTH, Maine - When provider Tammy Zelenko gets ready to close the books on her fiscal year every June, she strives to close out outstanding patient balances.
Sometimes, that means offering a discount to patients to get them to pay up.
“You'll do whatever it takes to get that money,” said Zelenko, CEO of AdvaCare Home Services in Bridgeville, Pa. “It's better than ending up writing it off or sending them to collections.”
With more patients paying out of...
ICD-10 still lurks in shadows
April 25, 2014Liz Beaulieu, Editor
The implementation date for ICD-10 may have been delayed until at least Oct. 1, 2015, but the transition to the new code set, when it does happen, will still likely muck up the process for HME, industry consultants say.
The biggest misconception that providers have about ICD-10, they say: that there will always be an easy, one-to-one transition from ICD-9 to ICD-10.
“If we think we can just pick a code in the crosswalk, we can't,” said Sarah Hanna, president of ECS Billing &...
Take PECOS seriously, stakeholders say
November 8, 2013Liz Beaulieu, Editor
WASHINGTON - CMS has set a new start date for denying DME claims with the names of physicians who are not enrolled in PECOS and, this time, it may stick, industry stakeholders say.
Starting on Jan. 6, 2014, claims with the names of physicians who are not enrolled in PECOS will be denied, and the provider who submitted the claims will not be paid for the items or services that were furnished. Most recently, CMS had planned to start denying claims on May 1, 2013.
“It feels real this time,”...