CORRECT PHYSICIAN APPLICATION OF ICD-9-CM CODES SUBMITTED

As a reminder when filing Medicare and other third party payer claims, Item 21 is the appropriate area on the CMS-1500 claim form to provide the ICD-9 codes applicable to the patient's condition. The diagnosis codes should be entered in priority order (primary, secondary condition, etc.). The codes should be provided in the appropriate fields within Item 21. Incorrect placement of these codes may cause rejections due to the claim being processed through the Medicare Optical Character Recognition (OCR) scanner.

Example:
Two diagnoses provided:
Place in fields 1 and 2 within Item 21, which are above and below each other.
Do not place in fields 1 and 3 within Item 21, which are across from each other.

Have questions? I’m here to help.

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Categories
Accounting and Tax Services Litigation Support Managed Care Consulting Managed Care Contract Negotiations Medical Practice and Healthcare Entity Valuation Medical Practice Assessment Medical Practice Brokerage Medical Practice Embezzlement Consulting Medical Practice Management Medical Practice Merger Advice Medical Strategic Planning Newsletter Personal Financial Planning Oversight Physician Compensation Models Physician Compliance Physician Financial Management Services Retirement Uncategorized
About Reed Tinsley, CPA

As a top advisor to physicians, I help increase practice profits by delivering hands-on, expert medical accounting/tax support, practice counsel, and revenue-building strategies. Read More >

Reed Tinsley, CPA