ACR Offers Resources & Personalized Help for Practice Management Questions

Navigating rheumatology practice management in 2024 and beyond requires a broad knowledge of many key areas, including coding, revenue cycle, denials management, compliance and other general business processes. Balancing all the various aspects of managing a high-quality and efficient practice to ensure patient satisfaction may seem like an uphill battle.

Ms. Chung

“With all the changes happening in the healthcare sector, consistent training and support in practice management is necessary in adapting to the evolving regulations and payer changes,” says ACR Director of Practice Management Antanya Chung, MBA, CPC, CPC-I, CRHC, CCP. Along with ACR Coding and Reimbursement Specialist Melesia Tillman, CPC, CPC-I, CRHC, CHA, the team works full time to support members with practice questions spanning clinical documentation, audits, coding, Medicare, HIPAA regulations, clinical onboarding and practice compliance.

A few key areas the ACR practice management staff are working on include the newly assigned Medicare Healthcare Common Procedure Code (HCPCS) G2211, remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) treatment management codes, HCPCS drug changes and the increase in audit request reviews.

Learn More About G2211 at a Lunch Series

For calendar year 2024, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized a new add-on code G2211 for outpatient office visits to acknowledge the complexity of care for services related to ongoing care for a patient’s singular chronic or complex condition. The ACR strongly supported the creation of G2211 and led advocacy efforts for its implementation this year.

G2211 is defined as, “Visit complexity inherent to evaluation and management (E/M) associated with medical care services that serve as the continuing focal point for all needed health care services and/or with medical care services that are part of ongoing care related to a patient’s single, serious condition or a complex condition.” This Medicare-specific add-on code is identified primarily for primary care providers and those delivering chronic care to patients, including rheumatology care providers who meet the coding criteria.

The ACR practice management team currently offers a free, tailored, one-hour lunch-and-learn series on coding and compliance for G2211 to ensure billing accuracy with E/M services.

The webinar is the latest in a series of resources developed to assist ACR/ARP members, practices and their staff with coding updates. Members have reported it as very helpful, especially given the nervousness often associated with billing new codes. Lillian Maric, MS, CPC, CPMA, a coding and auditing consultant with HonorHealth in the Phoenix area, said, “The ACR G2211 Lunch and Learn was insightful and exactly what the staff needed to help with addressing the gray guidelines associated with the new code. We were also impressed that the ACR offers the opportunity for staff and clinicians to discuss issues affecting their practices.”