What’s New in Medical Billing Services for Cardiology?

Cardiology is tough and encompasses new techniques and technologies every now and then. Therefore, its medical billing services require special understanding to adapt to changes in the reporting requirements.

Cardiologists have to work under several conditions and deal with intensive bloodwork and other invasive procedures. The varied conditions reflect on charges as they depend on the rendered service location, i.e., a hospital, a private clinic, or a same-day surgery center.

An important thing to maximize revenue for cardiologists is that outsourced billing services drive abstract physician operational notes. It helps them to compile claims with accuracy and exact information on medical procedures.

The efficiency of medical billing companies for cardiology also extends to the knowledge of CPT (Current Procedural Terminology) codes, expertise-related codes (cardiology-related), and HIPAA compliance.

Before diving into the updates for cardiology billing and best practices, we must be aware of the fact that cardiology medical billing and coding comprises twenty-six new CPT codes with eleven topped-up codes. In addition, there are four hundred and fifty changes in the ICD-10-CM coding system so far.

Code Changes for Cardiology

Medical billing services can use the following codes for the leadless pacemaker.

Leadless pacemaker 33275 includes imaging guidance, transcatheter removal of a permanent leadless pacemaker, and right ventricular is revised. Should you choose to find end-to-end medical billing outsourcing, a company that updates itself to gain knowledge of new procedures is the right company. It is wise to ask them if they serve any cardiologists currently.

New code 33275 includes imaging guidance (For Instance, fluoroscopy, venous ultrasound, ventriculography, femoral venography), transcatheter removal of a permanent leadless pacemaker, and right ventricular is revised.

Pericardiocentesis (33016, 33017, 33018, and 33019) are the four new codes for pericardiocentesis. The code 33010 is removed from the list.

Revised Codes

We are seeing new relevant changes in the medical billing and coding process in the field of Cardiology in 2021. Each year, some codes are revised, while some are updated as deemed fit to cater to the administrative billing load.

Only in the last year, more than 450 codes were modified. The reason is cardiology is a sensitive field, and with innovations and treatment procedures, medical billing services also have to adopt new codes for clean claims.

Here are some revised codes against their respective procedures.

• 197.64 – Postproc seroma of a circulation system org fola a circ sys procedure
• 122.8 – Subsequent posterior transmural myocardial infarction (Q wave) (acute)
• T81.11 – Postprocedural cardiogenic shock
• T46.4X – Angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors

Changes for Cardiology ICD-10 Codes: Medical Billing Services Near Me Does the Trick

There are some minor changes in the ICD-10-CM codes for cardiology that can affect the performance of medical billing services (if they don’t pay attention). For Instance:

New codes are Introduced for Cerebral Infarction (I63)

• 89 – For cerebral infarction.
• 81 – For cerebral infarction due to occlusion or stenosis of the small artery. It also accounts for lacunar infarction.

Cerebrovascular Disease (I67) Has a New Subcategory 

• 858 – For other types of hereditary cerebrovascular diseases.
• 850 – For cerebral autosomal dominant arteriopathy with subcortical infarcts and leukoencephalopathy. It also accounts for CADASIL diagnosis.

Hence, search for the phrase ‘medical billing services near me to find the best companies near your practice in Google.

Now, let’s move towards the best billing practices that cardiologists or medical billing services may incorporate within their system and see remarkable results in their account ledgers.

Best Medical Billing Practices

Use of Dedicated and Correct Codes

Incorrect documentation and improper claims can risk your reputation and finances. Even, they can make you suffer from audits and increase your expenses. A simple practice is to keep a check on your mistakes and obsolete practices that might restrict the smooth motion of the revenue cycle.

EHR (Electronic Health Records) are used for the purpose to collect patients’ data and maintain accurate records.

Cardiac procedures are complex. Therefore, the inability to provide accurate documentation can result in lacking important codes.

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Use a Combination of Codes to Report Conditions with Precision

ICD-10 codes are modified to include a set of combo codes to state a patient’s conditions. Medical billing services should have the knowledge of using codes in their places.

For Instance,

• 0 is only for hypertensive heart disease with heart failure
• 2 is for hypertensive heart, chronic kidney disease with heart failure, and stage 5 chronic kidney disease, or end-stage renal disease.

Document Diagnostic Procedures Carefully

Billing services should not include diagnostic procedures only because of assumptions. Avoid using false codes and only document procedures that were performed based on the symptom codes.

Do not use codes that are generally associated with the disease and are not conducted specifically. However, claims can have diagnostic codes as per the ICD-10-CM reporting guidelines.

The Use of Artificial Intelligence for Medical Coding

There are thousands of codes already in cardiology medical billing, and with each year, updates in the data compilation and coding extend the list. Thus, often budding medical billing services may find it difficult to stay up-to-date. Here comes artificial intelligence.

The use of AI can solve many issues in terms of medical billing and coding. If there is an automated system, which can help with the coding of the procedures, the chances of errors can be reduced. Consequently, physicians can save time and money.

Another way that is making waves in the billing process is the auto-correction of the wrong codes. It works every time the system detects the error, just like, you see a red line over wrong spellings in a Word file.

Not every professional has adopted this innovation yet, but billing companies are slowly moving towards an era where AI would be inevitable.

Check into Different Medical Conditions (Comorbidities)

Reimbursements somewhat depend upon the patient’s health status. For instance, a patient with comorbidities can cost more as compared to a patient with no comorbidities.

Medical billing services should state the actual medical condition of the patient depicting the complexity of the case. When insurance companies get to know the complexities, they can also estimate the actual expense.

Cardiology medical billing is certainly difficult; therefore, many professionals prefer to outsource their billing to segment every data and adjust each code accurately. We also suggest it is the right option, instead of ruining the chances of sending clean claims.