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Leslie Witkin Consulting Management Menu

leslie witkinSeminar List

     Leslie Witkin has conducted and written comprehensive manuals for a variety of seminars on a national basis. Programs are provided not only to large groups, but are also customized for individual practices. Participants consistently rate Leslie very highly for her clarity, knowledge, and sense of humor in dealing with the regulatory environment. In addition, her detailed program documents provide those in attendance with a great resource long after the program is over.
     Listed below are her most popular programs. If you would like to invite Leslie to speak at a conference or seminar or to your individual practice, please complete our contact form or feel free to call Leslie at 407-249-7900.
     You are also invited to click here - to see a listing of Leslie's upcoming speaking engagements.

  Annual Healthcare Coding and Regulatory Update
Documentation Guidelines for Evaluation and Management (E/M) Services -
     complete with sample templates for efficiency and accuracy
Setting Up Your In-Office Audit Program
Medicare’s Competitive Acquisition Program: Does it make sense for your practice?
Compliance with "Incident To" and Shared/Split Encounter Rules
Climbing the Medicare Hierarchy to Resolve Your Problems -
     complete with resources that cost you nothing!
National Provider Identifier (NPI) -How will it work? How will it affect your business operations?
What Fees Can You Charge Your Medicare and Other Patients?
Specialty Coding and Regulatory Presentations
Regulatory Guidelines for Use of E/M Codes and Modifiers
Regulatory Guidelines for Use of Surgical Codes and Modifiers
Collection Procedures and A/R Management for the Medical Business
Understanding and Utilizing RBRVS
National Correct Coding Initiative-Its Use for Compliance and Revenue Benefit
HIPAA Administrative Simplification
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FYI - For Your Information

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December 27, 2011

Article: CMS Will Not Provide Interim Feedback Reports for Determining if Individual Providers will Incur the 1% 2012 ERx Penalty for Medicare Part B Fee Schedule Services
   Despite CMS indicating in their 9/6/11 final E-Prescribe rules that providers would receive an interim feedback report to know in advance if they would receive the 1% ERx penalty adjustment as of 1/1/2012, CMS announced 12/20/11 these reports were not "technically feasible" for them to provide.
   In addition, CMS has NOT processed the ERx exemption requests which providers could apply for using the Communication Support Page up until 11/8/11. CMS indicates the volume of these requests was too great. The ONLY email notices thus far sent to providers as a result of their exemption request filings, were sent to providers from QualityNet on 12/9/11. The email notified providers they would not be penalized as of 1/1/2012; BUT WAS NOT due to the actual exemption request reason the provider filed. The email was sent to providers whose actual data had been reviewed for the period 1/1/11 thru 6/30/11 based on the Name/NPI/TIN listed in the exemption request; and determined they were already exempt from the penalty (no filing of an exemption request was required). The email sent to providers was VERY confusing. Here is what the email said:
   "Thank you for submitting a request for a significant hardship exemption from the 2012 electronic prescribing (eRx) payment adjustment. Our records indicate that you submitted one or more requests for a significant hardship exemption to the 2012 eRx payment adjustment. This formal notification is to inform you that the 2012 eRx payment adjustment, which will result in a 1.0 percent reduction on an eligible professional’s 2012 Medicare Part B physician fee schedule covered professional services, does NOT apply to you based on the identifying information received in your hardship request. Therefore, your request(s) for a significant hardship exemption to the 2012 eRx payment adjustment will be disregarded.
   If you received the above email...GREAT!! If you did not, then you will NOT receive any notification as to your penalty status that kicks in as of 1/1/2012, although CMS says they contunue to work on a method for notifying providers. At this late date, do not hold your breath.
   Instead, your first indication as to receiving the 1% penalty will occur when you start receiving your 2012 Medicare remittances. On 12/21/11, CMS posted an article describing the remittance and remark codes that will indicate the 1% penalty has been applied. To read the Medlearn article, click here.
   If the exemption request you filed on the Communication Support Page is ultimately approved by CMS after 1/1/2012, any claims where the penalty applied would then need to be re-processed thus creating further chaos to your patient account reconciliation. The MedLearn article also describes the remittance and remark codes you will see when the ERx penalty is subsequently adjusted.