by Meghann Drella | Jul 15, 2020 | Blog, Healthcare News
Outsource Strategies International is pleased to announce that its article “Gastroparesis Awareness Month in August” has been published in BC Advantage Magazine (July / August 2020 | Issue 15.4).
Written by Meghann Drella, CPC, a Senior Solutions Manager at Managed Outsource Solutions (MOS), the article provides comprehensive information on symptoms and causes of gastroparesis, the challenges of diagnosing it, and treatment. It also discusses how to document the condition and the ICD-10 codes to report under different circumstances, such as if gastroparesis is reported as a post-operative complication without obstruction and it the physician documents it as a post-procedural a complication.
A digestive disorder, gastroparesis means “stomach paralysis”. It causes delayed emptying of food from the stomach into the small intestine. There are about 5 million people in the United States living with the debilitating or life-threatening symptoms of gastroparesis, according to the International Foundation for Functional Gastrointestinal Disorders (IFFGD). Women are more likely to develop gastroparesis than men.
Sponsored by the IFFGD, Gastroparesis Awareness Month is dedicated to improving, understanding, and management of the disease. As the BC Advantage CEO’s letter notes, OSI’s article is just in time for Gastroparesis Awareness month in August. This is the right time to focus attention on diagnosis and treatment of gastroparesis, and promote preventive strategies to improve health-related quality of life concerns.
Similar to other medical disorders, early diagnosis of gastroparesis makes treatment easier, which is why awareness about the causes, risk factors, and symptoms of the gastroparesis is critical. However, diagnosing gastroparesis can pose challenges, with experts pointing out that physicians often tend to overlook or under-diagnose, and even misdiagnose the condition as its symptoms are similar to those of other conditions.
A healthcare business process outsourcing company based in the U.S., OSI was established in 2002. The company provides coding and medical billing services for all specialties, ranging from Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, General and specialized surgery, to Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Pain management, more. OSI’s team of skilled AAPC-certified coders have a strong understanding of ICD-10-CM and CPT requirements and procedures, and stays up-to-date with coding changes, payer-specific documentation requirements, and state and federal regulations. The company’s expert team also provides insurance verification and authorization services and has extensive experience in working with all government and private insurances.
BC Advantage Magazine is the largest independent resource provider in the industry for medical coders and billers, healthcare auditors, practice managers, compliance officers, and clinical documentation experts.
“Gastroparesis Awareness Month in August” is one of the many OSI articles published by this prestigious publication.
by Outsource Strategies International. | Mar 30, 2020 | Press Releases, Resources
Outsource Strategies International is glad to announce that prominent industry magazine BC Advantage has published its article titled “Pharmacy Prior Authorization – Challenges and Solutions. Written by Natalie Tornese, CPC, OSI’s Senior Solutions Manager, Practice and Revenue Cycle Management, Healthcare Division, the article appears in BC Advantage Magazine’s March/April 2020 – ISSUE 15.2. Natalie is in the expert contributors list in this issue of the magazine.
Pharmacy prior authorization (PA), the preapproval process that the patient’s health plan requires for certain prescriptions before they will cover it, is a major concern affecting physicians in the United States. In fact, a December 2018 survey by the American Medical Association reported that, though efforts being made to address administrative burdens associated with PA and provide timely care, pharmacy preapproval continues to be a major concern for both physicians and patients,
OSI’s article provides a comprehensive overview of the preapproval process for high-cost specialty medications and certain medical services, and rationale underlying the prior authorization requirement. It also discusses the criteria for approval of a drug undergoing the PA process, the types of drugs subject to PA, the PA process, and the common reasons for denying a patient’s PA request. The author also explains how PA is burdensome for practices and how it can be better handled, as well as the process of appealing rejected claims. The role of insurance verification and authorization services in easing pharmacy PA is also discussed.
A US based healthcare business process outsourcing company with extensive experience, OSI offers medical billing and coding services for all specialties. The company’s insurance verification specialists ease PA challenges faced by physicians by verifying patients’ benefit information before the office visit. They also work closely with government and private payers to help practices avoid payment delays and denials.
BC Advantage Magazine is a highly acclaimed CEU approved national online healthcare publication and the largest independent resource provider in the industry for medical coders and billers, healthcare auditors, practice managers, compliance officers, and clinical documentation experts.
In addition to “Pharmacy Prior Authorization – Challenges and Solutions”, the other OSI articles that BC Advantage Magazine published include: “Tick and Lyme Disease Diagnosis and Treatment”, Viral Hepatitis – Types, Symptoms, and Diagnosis Codes” and “How to Code Screening and Diagnostic Colonoscopy”. The magazine had also featured two reports by OSI in its online medical coding article section: “Thanksgiving-Specific Foodborne Illnesses – Types, Symptoms, and ICD-10 Codes” on November 26, 2019 and “ICD 10 Codes for some of the Worst Epidemics in the U.S.” on February 19, 2020.
by Natalie Tornese | Sep 4, 2019 | Blog, Medical Coding
Outsource Strategies International is honored to have yet another of its articles published in BC Advantage Magazine.
Titled “Tick and Lyme Disease Diagnosis and Treatment”, this article provides comprehensive information on this pervasive tick-borne disease, including diagnosis, treatment, and prevention measures. Written by Natalie Tornese, CPC, OSI’s Senior Solutions Manager, Practice and Revenue Cycle Management, Healthcare Division, this article is especially relevant in that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) considers Lyme disease as one six key tick-borne diseases that pose public health threats.
Lyme disease is caused by BorreliaBurgdorferi, the bacterium which is spread by the bite of a black-legged tick carried by white-tailed deer. Studies suggest that the threat of Lyme disease in U.S. cities has increased with the spread of deer populations from forests to suburbs to urban parks.
OSI’s article lists the ICD-10 and CPT codes to report this common tick-borne infection. Choosing and reporting the correct codes is necessary for accurate processing of medical claims.ICD-10 codes for Lyme disease recognize complications such as rash, meningitis, polyneuropathy and arthritis, but not the infection’s life-threatening complications. The Ad Hoc Committee for Health Equity in ICD-11 Borreliosis Codes has addressed this problem by establishing new codes for life-threatening complications from Lyme disease.
Established in 2002, OSI is an experienced healthcare business process outsourcing company based in the U.S. The company provides accurate and timely coding and medical billing services for all specialties, ranging from Anesthesiology, Internal Medicine, General and specialized surgery, Cardiology, Gastroenterology, Neurology, Pain management and many more. The company’s team of skilled AAPC-certified coders stays up-to-date with the current coding changes and updates, payer-specific documentation guidelines, and state and federal regulations.
OSI’s comprehensive insurance verification and authorization services ensure that coverage is checked prior to the office visit, preventing denials and avoiding delays in payment. The company’s expert team has extensive experience in working with all government and private insurances.
BC Advantage Magazine is the largest independent resource provider in the industry for medical coders and billers, healthcare auditors, practice managers, compliance officers, and clinical documentation experts.
“Tick and Lyme Disease Diagnosis and Treatment” is the third OSI article published by BC Advantage Magazine. Viral Hepatitis – Types, Symptoms, and Diagnosis Codes” and “How to Code Screening and Diagnostic Colonoscopy” are the other OSI articles that appeared in this prestigious publication.
by Outsource Strategies International. | Dec 13, 2013 | Press Releases, Resources
Outsource Strategies International is offering insurance verification and authorization services to verify patient benefits and coverage before physicians provide services. Proper eligibility and benefits verification is a critical step that informs physicians about who will be paying and how much before patient services are rendered. Healthcare services provided without proper patient eligibility verification and authorization can result in claim denials and decreased revenue. OSI’s services are designed to help physicians overcome these issues and get paid.
The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) recently reported that 1 in 4 claims are delayed or denied and 80% of those are due to errors in eligibility. This happens because physicians and their practice staff have no way of knowing if a patient is eligible for coverage without verifying this information directly with the health insurance company. OSI has sound procedures in place to do so.
This Tulsa-based medical billing company takes care of the entire patient benefit verification service process – from receiving patient schedules, verifying patient’s insurance coverage with the carrier, contacting patients, if needed and updating the billing system with eligibility and verification details.“Making sure that providers get paid for the services they provide is what OSI does best. As a provider, you should be concerned about your patient’s health, not how many hours you are going to spend trying to be paid for those services,” says Natalie Tornese, one of the senior managers of the company.
Coverage is verified prior to the patient’s first office visit. OSI’s benefit verification team verifies insurance coverage, co-pays, co-deductibles deductibles, patient policy status, effective date, type of plan, coverage details, referrals, pre-authorizations, plan exclusions, lifetime maximums, secondary insurance information, if they have Out of Network Benefits and if prior authorization is needed. The patient’s coverage for any procedures, services or tests that the physician practice may perform is also verified.
The comprehensive suite of insurance verification and authorization services helps enhance practice revenue and ensure that services provided do not go unpaid. OSI’s clientele includes hospitals, clinics, long term care facilities, multi specialty groups, and physicians. Providers that do not have a front desk and work by themselves would especially benefit with these services.
Providers wanting information on OSI’s affordable patient eligibility verification services or a free trial should call the company’s toll-free number. Support is available 24×7.
