Medicare Compliance & Reimbursement

Hint: Verify patient eligibility.One handy checklist could be just what you need to keep your revenue rolling in. National Government Services (NGS) Medicare's Michelle Coleman suggested during the MAC's recent webinar, "Minimize Errors, Maximize Revenue" that benefits verification can solve a lot of your denial problems. Coleman not only shared the top claims submission errors submitted to NGS in December 2011, but also suggested these solutions for avoiding the same mistakes. 1. Check Patient EligibilityNGS saw over 49,000 claims in December alone for patients not covered by the contractor. For instance, if a patient enrolled in a Medicare Advantage plan or moved across the state line, thus changing their MAC to another contractor, they were not covered by NGS and their claims were denied.Solution: Check the patient's eligibility information at every visit. "I know sometimes physicians do that once a year -- when the New Year comes up they'll check and [...]