How to Handle Medical Billing Code Changes
Medical billing codes change on a yearly basis. When they become outdated, insurance companies cannot accept them any more. Your claims could be denied because of outdated codes.
There are few ways in which you can keep up with changes in medical billing codes.
The first thing that you can do to keep codes updated is to use Current Procedural Terminology Code Books. These are billing code books that have an explanation for each medical billing code. They list the codes alphabetically and by number.
The codes in the CPT books are updated annually. The changes may be minimal at times, while at other times they may have a lot of changes. The books also contain a list of modifiers which indicate that a service was changed in a certain way from the stated current procedural terminology without changing the definition.
By making that you have the new books each year, you’ll be able to keep up with any billing code changes that have taken place.
You can also handle code changes by using ICD-9 code book (International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision). This is a coding system that groups related disease procedures and entities for the reason of reporting statistical information. ICD-9 books also list diagnoses both numerically and alphabetically and the codes are updated on a yearly basis.
The other way to handle code changes is to purchase medical coding software, which is a good alternative to code referencing books, which you need to update on a regular basis. Medical billing software (if it’s a good package…) will update the codes for you!
The other benefit of medical billing software is that you don’t need to consult books in order to code a medical procedure correctly. Software also provides online searching capabilities – something you don’t get with reference books.
Getting medical office software is the best way to handle changes. Medical offices that use online coding and billing software will find it easier to transition from the old codes to the new codes – the software will handle much of the work. By keeping up with code changes in this way, your billing practice will improve the quality of service that you deliver, improving your reputation and hopefully getting you more clients!
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