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Read an interview with a member who uses the newsletter service.
From articles to educational programs, ACG provides you tools
and techniques you can use in your practice that will help improve
efficiency and increase profitability. Learn from experts at ACG’s
live educational programs, read what others are doing in their
practice to solve problems they encounter, get your GI coding questions
answered, compare your practice operations to others of similar
size. Many of these resources are available only to ACG Members.
See below for a complete listing of ACG’s Practice Management
resources.
ACG Patient Brochures
Patient Assistance Programs The costs of pharmaceuticals can be prohibitive for our patients with limited income. The Patient Care Committee has developed a user-friendly interface for Patient Assistance Programs for pharmaceuticals. A compilation of telephone numbers and/or web pages for commonly prescribed drugs used by patients with gastrointestinal or liver disorders is listed. Click here for more information.
Clinical Drug Trials
Translation Services
Joint Society Statement on E & M Services and Drug Infusion Codes
CPT 2010 Update
ACG Coding Calculator
Gastroenterology PQRI Coding and Documentation Quick Reference Guide
The ACG has negotiated a special rate for ACG Members with a firm called Health Care Economics. Members with coding questions can contact their Coding Hotline at 317-558-6026. There is a $25 fee for a single question related to one coding issue. For complex or multiple questions that require additional research, the fee will be $25 plus $2 per minute after 15 minutes (normal rates are $200 per hour). You may also send your question(s) via fax to 317-558-6186 or via e-mail to charlenet@forumcu.com. Visit HCE's website at www.forumcu.com/business/businessservices.aspx?tabId=4.
Medicare Reimbursement & Consultations
ACG has created a crosswalk to assist members in the transition from billing for ‘consultation services’ to ‘evaluation & management services.’ As you are aware, Medicare will no longer reimburse for ‘consultation services’ codes effective January 1, 2010. The chart below, along with Medicare’s guide on billing for ‘evaluation & management services’ codes, will help ensure providers are paid for these services.
Consult Codes vs. E & M Codes Chart
Medicare's Evaluation & Management Services Guide
ACG Update Newsletter – Practice Management Committee
Articles
Content only available to members, login if you are a member.
ACG Update Newsletter –GI Coding
Corner Articles
Content only available to members, login if you are a member.
If you missed the 2009 Annual Practice Management Course or would like to view the lectures again, they will be available on ACG’s CME website, ACG Education Universe. Click here to login.
The next Practice Management Course will be held in conjunction with the ACG 2010 Annual Scientific Meeting and Postgraduate Course, Friday, October 15, 2010, in San Antonio, Texas. Click here to view the course agenda. For more information and to register, visit www.acgmeetings.org.
CMS Medicare Physician Guide
Medical Links
Content only available to members, login if you are a member.
For the first time in nearly a decade, the ACG, the American Medical Association (AMA), and more than 70 other health care professional organizations, have worked together to coordinate a comprehensive multi-specialty survey of America’s physician practices. The survey will collect up-to-date characteristics of thousands of physician practices from virtually all specialties, and be used in efforts to positively influence national decision makers to ensure accurate and fair representation for all physicians and patients.
Getting our nation’s policy-makers to understand today’s landscape and the requirements for care is critical. These data will allow medicine to articulate the challenges of running a practice that provides expert patient care, while operating a business that is sustainable. The study results will not only help in the short-term but will allow future generations of doctors to continue providing superior care to their patients.
One particularly important section of the study pertains to practice expenses and the amounts that are attributable to you. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services have indicated that the results of this study will be used to help determine physician payment. Please encourage your staff to make this information available as the survey’s success depends on accurate and complete data. This information will remain confidential. The survey firm, Dmrkynetec, will not identify any individuals or entities participating in this research.
Dmrkynetec, a survey firm with extensive experience in the area of physician practice finance, has been retained to administer the survey. Dmrkynetec will contact randomly selected physicians and practice managers in order to collect their confidential responses. Please watch for this survey and complete it thoroughly and accurately. Do your part to represent our profession.
On July 16th results of the American Medical Society’s (AMA’s) survey on Medicare’s new policy eliminating reimbursement for consultation codes were released. ACG joined the AMA and sixteen other societies in fielding the research which had a total of 7,781 respondents. Please view the aggregate results here. Please review the Gi specific data here.
The survey found that elimination of Medicare’s consultation codes has had a negative impact on physician efforts to improve care coordination and has reduced treatment options available to Medicare beneficiaries, in some cases reducing appointments for new patients. “For patients with digestive disorders, the implications of eliminating consultation codes could mean a more difficult time finding a GI specialist. The decision to stop paying for consultation codes flies in the face of the federal government’s goal of improving communication among providers and reducing unnecessary medical tests,” said Scott M. Tenner, M.D., FACG, Chair of ACG’s National Affairs Committee. In January 2010, Medicare eliminated reimbursement for consultation codes and instead required providers to use “evaluation & management” codes with lower reimbursement.
To estimate the impact of these coding changes on your practice in 2010, and to calculate other common codes for GI procedures, ACG has provided its members with a “practice impact calculator.” With this tool you can measure the financial impact to your practice based up your “consultation” coding history and estimated “evaluation & management” patient volume.
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