6/24/2019 0 Comments "It is one of those areas where you are never finished learning because the rules are always changing."Few things in the world of medicine make doctors cringe (or yawn) like the topic of coding and billing. At this point, changes to this particular aspect of medicine have become like a bad game of hide and seek. Each and every year, we submit items for reimbursement and pray we find payment for our services in the bank account. These changes place an additional burden on both staff members and doctors as the same procedures are assigned new codes which must be researched, learned, and implemented in our practices. In an attempt to help our referring doctors and staff members combat the ever-changing nature of coding, we have asked SouthEast Eye Specialists' (SEES) Dr. Zachary McCarty to offer some tips during his lecture at the 2019 VisionAmerica Summer Conference.
"Coding and billing are both huge pain points because they are always changing," said McCarty. "It is one of those areas where you are never finished learning because the rules are always changing. It is important we know what's changed and why in order for us to adapt." The topic is timely considering the patient age demographic of the majority of optometry practices and the recent changes with Medicare contractors in Jurisdiction J, which includes Alabama, Georgia, and Tennessee. "A lot of it is keeping up with the payers," continued McCarty. "Last year's transition from Cahaba to Palmetto as our regional administrator for Medicare is a good example as it has spilled over into 2019. The process hasn't been the smoothest and Medicare is one of our largest reimbursers. "I go through and try to look at what has changed in the past year with Medicare along with other things with ICD-10 coding and 2019 is no exception to those changes." Hitting all of the big billing changes that have taken place within the last year in a one-hour lecture is a daunting task, but McCarty notes that the goal here is to hit the high points that will have the biggest impact on optometry practices. "It is problematic when something that used to be reimbursed no longer is," said McCarty. "It takes time and focus away from doctors and staff, so it is important that we keep up with new rules and changes. That basically sums of the goal of my lecture at the upcoming conference." A native of Henderson, Kentucky, Dr. McCarty is a 2006 graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Optometry and joined SEES in July of the same year. In addition to providing eye health services in the areas of ocular disease, pediatrics, neuro-ophthalmologic, and pre- and post-operative service management, he also serves as the SEES Director of Health Information and Technology. We are thrilled to have Dr. McCarty join us at this year's conference!
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