Part B Insider - eNewsletter

Newsletters are regular and timely publications written by people who have their fingers on the pulse of your industry.

In the case of coding newsletters, it can give you all the latest information you need, plus a refresher on things you might already have learned before but might have forgotten. They feature real reader questions, interviews, and guidance from experts. You’ll find clinical scenarios and expert advice to explain code choice and guide you through the code selection process. Most healthcare practices wish to avoid costly denials and audits from their payers. A specialty-specific newsletter promotes accurate coding, leading to higher revenues and less time and money wasted on justifying billing or returning payments to payers.

As for the non-coding healthcare newsletters, you’ll find up-to-the-minute news on changes in federal regulations governing reimbursement and legislative developments. You’ll find ways to navigate often dense government-speak and learn how to apply these changes/reports to your own practice or agency.

The knowledge disseminated in each newsletter issue can help protect your practice or business from costly mistakes and even help you boost revenue by providing guidance on the best ways to either:

• Code tricky and common scenarios or use modifiers correctly; or
• Stay abreast of the latest news or regulatory changes pertaining to the healthcare market; or
• Enrich your practice with the best advice possible.

Healthcare Business Monthly is a great large-scope publication; it provides information on a wide range of topics in a more free-flowing format. There are features on coders and stories about other healthcare issues (such as front-desk etiquette, HIPAA, keeping the office clean, etc.) that don’t pertain to coding, compliance, or post-acute care.

Coding newsletters are more focused; they are only about coding and billing, and each newsletter focuses on a different topic specialty. You might get a story on cardiology coding every few months in Healthcare Business Monthly. If you subscribe to Cardiology Coding Alert, however, you’ll get eight pages of cardiology-specific advice every month.

Non-coding healthcare newsletters dig into the regulatory news pertaining to healthcare. These are up-to-the-minute publications. You won’t find such in-depth information for compliance, practice management, MDS, home health, or hospice in Healthcare Business Monthly.

If you truly need a publication that is going to give you specific information pertaining to your practice or agency, a newsletter is the better option. Healthcare Business Monthly is too broad to count on for ongoing specific information like the newsletters contain.

TCI coding newsletters will help coders get up to speed on the job if a coder is new; the articles cover several in-specialty topics each month and delve into the specifics of coding procedures and services. A new coder could get information on a coding scenario in a newsletter before they encounter it in real life, which is a huge asset for a coder who hasn’t seen that coding scenario before.

Coding newsletters provide more exposure to the news you need, the quizzes to apply your coding knowledge in a low-stakes situation, and the expert guidance that will serve you well, even if you may not have thought to seek out the answers to certain questions on your own.

Additionally, newsletter articles and reader questions aid new coders in reinforcing and adding to their training. Reader questions and some articles portray realistic coding scenarios to keep coding skills sharp and current. You’ll find expert opinions and advice from trusted and experienced sources that can help new coders understand the nuances of the profession.

Throughout the year, all newsletters contain updates to codes and coding guidelines that are of vital importance to both new and veteran coders. From articles on the quarterly National Correct Coding Initiative (NCCI) edits; to updates to the ICD-10-CM, CPT®, and HCPCS Level II code sets; to discussions of ad-hoc guideline changes issued by CMS and other healthcare authorities, each newsletter attempts to keep coders informed and current. Having a specialty-focused publication addressing and analyzing updates is an important tool for every coder.

For instance, NCCI edits are often applied behind the scenes to coding software, and coders may be staring at a denial without realizing why. Newsletter articles will update coders to the edits that affect their practices the most and translate them into practical advice. That way, even veteran coders will be aware.

Secondly, there is so much to remember in coding that everyone forgets how to report something every once in a while. The newsletter provides a monthly refresher on coding topics that a veteran coder might not have seen in a while.

Finally, most TCI coding newsletters provide coders with regular AAPC CEU opportunities that can help you keep your credentials current.

CPT® is a registered trademark of the American Medical Association. All rights reserved.

Most coding newsletters are specialty specific, and coders working in those specialties should subscribe to newsletters aligned with their professional interests. Several newsletters, however, feature subject matter that crosses specialty lines: E/M Coding Alert, ICD-10 Coding Alert, and Health Information Compliance, for example, all contain articles and reader questions that are applicable to most specialties, practices, and institutions.

You’ll also find newsletters dedicated to compliance, practice management, skilled nursing facility, home health, hospice, and Medicare Part B. These newsletters are beneficial for people across your practice, including practice managers, billing/coding staff, Minimum Data Set nurses, clinicians, and administrators.

Each editor reaches out to sources to assist them in writing/verifying content. Sometimes we cite big professional names, such CMS administrators featured on update calls. Other times, we’ll reach out to our expert consultants. We also include information from on-the-ground professionals like you – healthcare professionals working in the industry, members of our own readership, to ensure we hit the pain points and struggles you’re facing and provide you with guidance and solutions that really work, not just in theory, but in practice.

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All TCI newsletters are available in full-color electronic format. This format functions like an online magazine. You’ll be able to click on live links in articles to go directly to resource websites, and you can do keyword searches of the newsletter.

Newsletters published prior to June’20 are available in the form of PDF files.

eNewsletters cannot be printed. Articles in an eNewsletter can be downloaded.

Newsletters monthly issue date varies from month to month. Different newsletter may or may not be published on the same date of the month.

Fees paid for any Subscription term are paid in advance and are not refundable in whole or in part. You may terminate your Subscription at any time and continue using the Services until the expiration of your pre-paid term.

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