Practice Management Alert

The drop-dead date for using the updated advance beneficiary notice (ABN) just passed, so it's out with the old and in with the new. While the new form was first introduced last year, you haven't been required to use it -- until now. With March 1 behind us, you-re asking for denials if you-re still using the old forms. You Now Have a Streamlined Form The new form not only replaces both the previous ABN-G (for physicians) and ABN-L (for laboratories) but also incorporates the Notice of Exclusions from Medicare Benefits (NEMB) form, says Melinda S. Brown, CMBS, insurance biller for a primary-care provider in Kennewick, Wash. CMS expects the new combination form to -eliminate any widespread need for the NEMB in voluntary notification situations,- according to the new -ABN Form Instructions- document. Old way: In the past, you used the ABN form only for procedures that Medicare might not [...]