Medical coding – Modifiers Q & A – 4

Feb 17, 2009 | Medical billing basics

The hospice patient, under hospice care for terminal COPD, falls out of bed and fractures his wrist. He is taken to the emergency department at the local hospital and has cast plication for the nondisplaced fracture. What modifier is reported to show that these...

Medical coding – Modifiers Q & A 3

Feb 14, 2009 | Medical billing basics

6. A patient is brought to the emergency department of Community Hospital following a motor vehicle accident. He appears to have an avulsion of the aortic root and is rushed to the operating room where repair is attempted. The patient expires on the operating room...

Medical coding – Modifiers Q & A 2

Feb 13, 2009 | Medical billing basics

A patient is seen in the emergency department because of hyperkalemia due to an inadvertent overdose of his potassium medication. Over the course of the next six hours he receives infusions and his potassium is measured three times. What is the appropriate modifier to...

Medical Coding – Modifier QA

Feb 9, 2009 | Medical billing basics

Dr. Raddy, staff radiologist, interprets a chest x-ray that was obtained in the hospital Radiology Department. Dr. Raddy is contracted with the hospital to read radiographs. The equipment and staff are owned and/or employed by the hospital. What modifier, if any,...

Medicare Part B Deductible and premium

Jan 27, 2009 | Medical billing basics

Medicare Part B – Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI)For 2009, the standard premium for SMI services is $96.40 a month; the deductible is $135.00 a year; and the coinsurance is 20%.Under Part B, the Supplementary Medical Insurance (SMI) program, all enrollees...