Navigating Medicare Visits

Rhonda Granja

Healthcare
Aug 20, 2019
60 Minutes
Recorded Webinar

Key Points:

Complexities of Medicare Visits
IPPE Visit
Difference between AWV and subsequent AWV

Backdrop:

This session will walk you through the complexities of Medicare visits. There are a few possibilities when Medicare beneficiaries call your office to schedule their “yearly” exam. Office staff as well as clinicians need to understand how to appropriately select the correct type of visit for the patient. Medicare does not reimburse for preventive service codes so we must be sure that we are aware of proper use of an ABN and the determination of “carve-out” services.

Session Highlights:

We will explain the elements contained within the IPPE (Initial Preventive Physical Examination) visit.
Discussion will also include walking through a problem that is encountered during an annual exam visit.
How to code and document for those types of scenarios.
We will cover what must be documented with these complex and tricky visits.
There is a difference between the AWV (annual wellness visit) and the subsequent AWV. We will also look at modifiers that are applicable to some of these service codes.
There are also time specifications that CMS has in place for these visits.

Why You Should Attend?

Some common questions will be answered such as “Does the patient have a co-pay or co-insurance amount for this visit?” Beneficiaries can be confused on what is covered and what is considered non-covered. What happens if your office sees a Medicare patient for a type of physical twice in the same calendar year? Once you have some background information, you will be able to easily schedule, document, and bill correctly for these complex visits. Annual wellness visits differ from physicals and it can be confusing for the office staff with regard to scheduling and confusing for the patient as they may not know exactly what they need or what they are due for.