Practice Management Alert

Question: When we have to submit a paper claim and we make a mistake on the form, can we just cross out the wrong information or use correction fluid?

Connecticut Subscriber

Answer: If you make a mistake on a paper claim, your best bet is to start over. Don't simply cross out or cover up the mistake with correction fluid.

One Medicare payer just clarified its stance on this very issue. Practices submitting paper claims or appeals aren't doing themselves any favors by using liquid correction fluid to fix mistakes, according to a June 3 notification from National Government Services (NGS). "Do not modify the [CMS-1500] form," NGS says.

"Do not use a stamp, stickers, or write messages across the face of the claim form (e.g., RESUBMITTAL, EOB attached, etc.). Enclose a separate note. Do not use whiteout for corrections or make any marking that crosses multiple items."

To read the NGS guidance, visit www.ngsmedicare.com/NGSMedicare/PartB/EducationandSupport/ToolsandMaterials/instructions0805.aspx.

-- The answers to the Reader Questions and You Be the Billing Expert were provided or reviewed by Barbara J. Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC, CENTC, CPC-H, CPC-P, CPC-I, CHCC, president of CRN Healthcare Solutions, a coding and reimbursement consulting firm in Tinton Falls, N.J., and senior coder and auditor for The Coding Network.