Coding Best Practices Streamline Dispensing DME for Medicare

Sarah Wiskerchen, MBA, CPC

Although orthopaedic practices often provide patients with supplies or durable medical equipment (DME) as part of a treatment plan, this aspect of coding is frequently overlooked in training courses. This article addresses documentation criteria and medical necessity policies. For information on how to select appropriate codes and file claims correctly, see Part 1 (Dispensing DME in Orthopaedics for Medicare, AAOS Now, October 2017). Q.

What Can Benchmarking Do for Your Practice?

Vicki Sprague, PhD

Are you ready for 2018? For many practices, using benchmarking data is a good way to start planning for the year ahead. Not only does the data help practices determine their performance in comparison to their peers, the information also enables them to identify their own strengths and weaknesses.

Insurer Provides Interesting Perspective on Tort Reform in the Medical Malpractice Arena

Michael R. Marks, MD, MBA

For as long as I can remember, the issue of tort reform has been front and center for every orthopaedic surgeon. Traditionally, it has been at the top of the list of "must haves" for the legislative agenda when orthopaedic surgeons visit Capitol Hill each spring. In 1975, California enacted the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act and most tort reform efforts since then have tried to incorporate caps on noneconomic damages.