Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Navigating Payer Reviews and Medical Decision-Making: A Critical Guide for Urgent Care

Phyllis Dobberstein, CPC, CPMA, CPCO, CEMC, CCC Urgent care operators face increasing challenges from payer reviews—a situation exacerbated by ongoing confusion around coding guidelines and proper documentation of medical decision-making (MDM). As more urgent care providers grapple with administrative burdens and financial pressures, understanding how to document and code accurately has never been more important. The Rise of Payer Reviews Pre-payment reviews have become commonplace, initiated when a provider’s billing patterns—such as a higher frequency …

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MDM, E/M Code with Injection Codes

Q. I was approached by a member of the hospital billing department who does urgent care (office based practice) and emergency department billing about a coding question. As the medical director, they asked for my thoughts and support. It’s nice to work at a place that includes the docs! The question revolves around prescription drug management within the management options under the medical decision making (MDM) section pertaining to E/M calculation. We currently do not …

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