Compliance Question of the Week – General

In terms of Medicare billing, what does it mean when a CPT® code descriptor includes the term “separate procedure”?

What Medicare rules must be followed to correct a paper medical record?

When will CMS issue the Medicare proposed rule for physicians?

If an eligible provider fails to meet meaningful use (MU) during a participation year in the Medicare Electronic Health Records (EHR) Incentive Program, can he or she continue to participate and earn incentives?

Do you know when CMS will issue the 2018 proposed outpatient rule?

Who pays the difference between what the provider charges and Medicare pays?

What are Medicare rules on documentation of physician-patient telephone calls?

My question is a follow-up to last week’s question and answer about Medicare’s definition of a new patient. Would a patient still be considered “new” if only a diagnostic test was performed?

What is Medicare’s definition of “new patient” for billing evaluation and management (E&M) services?

Is there an appeal process for units of service (UOS) denied based on medically unlikely edits (MUEs)?

What is the effective date for the policy you reported in last week’s QA—the one related to reporting and charging requirements when a device is furnished without cost to the hospital etc.?

I have a comment to the answer posted to an April 10 question. You stated that, according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), there is no cost to the hospital for a device being inserted and that modifier –FB must be appended to the procedure code (not the device code) under certain circumstances.

I had thought -FB was no longer a CMS requirement; rather the facility should utilize the correct condition code as well as the amount of credit in the “FD” value code?