Answers to your coding questions

Mary LeGrand, RN, MA, CCS-P, CPC

Plus tips to help you get paid correctly Because coding questions always cover a range of topics, this issue of AAOS Now focuses on answering several recent inquiries. We’ve also included some coding suggestions designed to help you get paid correctly the first time around. Remember, new common procedural terminology (CPT) codes require you to be aware and update your reporting. Outdated code usage means denials Q: I am a new manager of an orthopaedic practice.

Know where you want to go—and you’ll get there

Frank A. Pettrone, MD

Fundamentals for successfully marketing the orthopaedic practice Marketing—a word that was once associated primarily with business courses and retail industries—is now a necessary function of any innovative orthopaedic practice seeking to grow or maintain its presence in today’s competitive healthcare marketplace. Although some practices have marketing plans and initiatives, others may be unsure of how best to develop a plan that works.

Moving into the digital age

Thomas J. Grogan, MD

Knowing your costs can help you decide Orthopaedic practices face a number of challenges today. Reimbursements continue to decline at the same time that new technology is becoming available to help deliver state-of-the-art care to our patients. As a solo practitioner, I face the ongoing challenge of balancing the adoption of new and exciting technologies with not going broke. In deciding whether to digitalize our X-ray system, I found that knowing my costs was key to making the decision.

Mcare debate keeps physicians in limbo

Beth Weachter

Uncertainty over program could threaten patient access to care More than 900 orthopaedic surgeons in Pennsylvania may have to wait until spring to learn what their total medical liability insurance bill will be for 2008. Gov. Edward G. Rendell and the Pennsylvania General Assembly are trying to work out differences on whether or not the state Mcare Fund, which assists doctors with medical liability insurance bills, should also help patients without healthcare insurance.

Pick up your free PACS Primer

If you are thinking about moving to a picture archiving and communication system (PACS), be sure to stop by the Practice Management booth in Academy Row during the 2008 Annual Meeting and pick up your FREE copy of the PACS Primer, prepared by the AAOS Practice Management Committee and staff in the practice management group. If you cannot attend the Annual Meeting, you can download an electronic version of the Primer from the online Practice Management Center (www.aaos.org/pracman).

Pearls and pitfalls: Arthroscopic rotator cuff repair

Robert M. Titelman, MD

The goal of any arthroscopic surgical procedure is to reproduce what is done with its corresponding open procedure. Sometimes this simple tenet can be forgotten as we try to perform procedures in a minimally invasive manner. If the patient’s anatomy has not been adequately restored, however, the goal has not been attained, no matter how small the incision.

The liability implications of medical tourism

Douglas W. Lundy, MD

What happens if something goes wrong? Medical tourism is a relatively new, rapidly developing industry. Medical tourists are patients who travel overseas to undergo surgical procedures or other treatments that are either unavailable or too expensive in the United States. Many medical tourists are uninsured or underinsured individuals. Others are seeking treatment options available abroad that are currently unavailable in the United States.

Lessons for lowering your liability exposure

John Harp, MD

Atul Gawande’s latest book is well worth reading Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance by Atul Gawande. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt and Company, LLC, New York, 2007, 273 pages. ISBN-13: 978-0-8050-8211-1 Atul Gawande, MD, a general surgeon at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, examines several current medical topics of interest in his latest book, Better: A Surgeon’s Notes on Performance, a follow-up to his Complications: A Surgeon’s Notes on an Imperfect Science.