How are You Handling the 2021 E/M Changes?

It’s been just over three months since the world changed for us coders and auditors, and anyone else even tangentially associated with healthcare billing. I know that around here, that both the leading up to the 2021 E/M Guidelines changes, and the months since they have gone into place, have been interesting times. Specifically there was a lot of stress and long nights leading up to the changes, and more of the same after January 1, 2021.

But now that we’ve had a whole quarter familiarizing ourselves, and fine-tuning our work, I thought now would be a good time to take stock in how we’re doing. But, in order to do so, we have to start by looking inward, and  asking ourselves questions, including:

• Are your providers and coders as prepared as you expected them to be for the new E/M guidelines?
• Does their medical record documentation support the new requirements?
• Are you getting paid less, or more, for your office visits?
• Do you know what your new E/M benchmarks are?

The truth is, to really, truly answer any of these questions is to perform a documentation and coding audit.

Why? Because by conducting an audit of your 2021 E/M levels, you’ll provide your organization with accurate insights of where your organization stands with these new guidelines. Of the many benefits you’ll realize is your ability to identify who needs additional training, where workflow adjustments need to be made, and documentation and coding behaviors of your providers and coders. Not to mention, it can also limit your exposure to pre-payment reviews from payers.

If you’re in need of guidance on how to conduct these audits, join my upcoming webinar, on Wednesday, April 21 at 1 PM ET, called “How are Your 2021 E/M Audits Looking So Far?” During this 60-minute presentation, we’ll share with you the results of a case study we performed on a large healthcare organization pre-2021 implementation, and post implementation, and review:

• Insights from the Initial 2021 E/M Audit Results, and the Follow-up Audit
• Tips on What We’ve Learned from Our Own Audits
• Best Practices from AMA’s “Technical Corrections – CPT 2021”

After you register, you’ll also have an opportunity to purchase an AAPC-certified CEU.

I hope to see you there!