Symposium Session Descriptions

Mon, Sept. 14th - Tues, Sept. 15th - Wed, Sept. 16th

Monday September 14, 2009
7:00 am – 8:00 am	Registration and Continental Breakfast
8:00 am – 10:00 am	Super-Efficient Front to Back Office Patient Management Strategies If you wait until the patient comes through the front door to verify insurance, you’re risking lost revenue. Stan will give you the 16 questions you should ask prior to the appointment to ensure that your practice runs smoothly and profitably. He takes you through the three points of patient access and best practices for each, including pre-appointment, check-in and check-out. You’ll receive customizable letters and forms, ranging from ortho superbills to no-show policies. Learn how to capture and keep revenue while keeping physicians organized and efficient.
10:00 am – 10:15 am	Networking Break
10:15 am – Noon	Modifiers and E/M: Uncover the Two Keys to Slash Denials Warning: Failure to use modifiers 25, 57 and 59 and new OIG target 79 appropriately will result in non-payment for ortho services. Stan shows you how to apply modifier rules in real-life orthopedic encounters. Plus: You can’t overlook E/Ms anymore – 99213 and 99214 are both on the list of top 10 denied codes billed by ortho specialists. Stan arms you with the ortho-specific E/M tools to justify your claims. He’ll confront the confusion between consult vs. referral on E/R visits, and “incident to” vs. shared visits.
Noon – 1:15 pm	Networking Lunch This is your chance to build a professional network of like-minded orthopedic coders, billers and practice managers to call on when you need help answering difficult reimbursement challenges that you face every day.
1:15 – 2:30 pm	Discover Overlooked Revenue and Avoid Compliance Pitfalls Don’t lose reimbursement due to poor documentation for in-office procedures. Injections, fracture care, PT and DME are just a few of the services you’ll learn about. Stan’s no-nonsense procedure-to-code explanations help you nail down the critical documentation components that need to be captured during the visit. Learn to correctly record the medication injected (e.g., how many mgs and injected sites) plus how to track down your Medicare carrier’s current list of allowed diagnoses for injections. And watch as Stan deciphers radiology reporting and MRIs. Performing procedures at an ASC? Stan’s got tips for that too, so that you can protect yourself from anti-kickback and Stark compliance problems.
2:30 pm – 2:45 am	Networking Break
2:45 pm – 5:00 pm	Orthopedic Practice A/R Recovery Roadmap Part I: Cash Flow Management Set a goal to cut your average days in A/R by 20% and make it happen with Stan’s proven strategies for A/R tracking. You’ll be a revenue hero when you return to your office with helpful appeals/collections letters (which can be customized for your practice, thanks to the CD you’ll receive) and other resources to assist you in obtaining every dollar your orthopedic provider is due. Learn where to find limits related to frequency of treatments, when you need an ABN, and how to tackle orthopedic contract issues so your practice isn’t left holding the bag for denied services. Part II: Denials Management Find out how the little-known denial code PR151 could rob your bottom line and how to protect yourself from a “medically unnecessary” denial due to over-utilization. Get a jump on state laws, from scope of practice to prompt payment, and learn how to effectively appeal a denial. Then, uncover how to handle patients who fall under ERISA so you can avoid compliance pitfalls.

Orthopedic Coding & Billing Desk Reference

This year Margie and Stan have prepared an exclusive book just for conference attendees. Your Orthopedic Coding & Billing Desk Reference will provide with you pertinent information and guidance on:

Appeals Letters
X-Ray Interpretation Rules
Physical Therapy
Documentation
Incident-to Billing Regulations
No Show Charging Rules
Medicare Timely Filling Deadlines