Practice Management Alert

You won't forfeit quite as much money as previously expected. While CMS has cut the period for retrospective billing for newly credentialed physicians from 27 months to 30 days, the change won't be as painful as experts were anticipating. CMS says you-ll count back 30 days from the physician's application date, not the Medicare approval date -- a clarification that makes a huge difference in your potential reimbursement, experts say. Sort Through the Credentialing Confusion As we reported in Medical Office Billing & Collections Alert Vol. 9, No. 1, according to the 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, you-ll be able to retroactively bill Medicare for services your physician rendered up to 30 days prior to the date of filing a Medicare enrollment application that a Medicare contractor subsequently approves. Although most experts previously took this to mean that you could only retrospectively bill for services performed 30 days prior to the [...]