Can you believe it’s almost the end of March, where does the time go?! In this issue of Dr. Bill’s Better Billing Newsletter, we’re talking about referring physicians, submission errors and the new dashboard.
Scroll through and click on what interests you the most. If you’ve got any questions, just click reply and ask away!
Happy Billing!
Billing Reminder: Referred to Practitioner
On occasion, when a MSP practitioner’s number is not available, you can use the following generic numbers as an alternative practitioner number.
99991 – referral by a chiropractor to an orthopedic specialist
99992 – referral by an optometrist to an ophthalmologist and referral by an optometrist to a neurologist
99993 – referral by a salaried, sessional or contract physician
99994 – referral by a dentist
99996 – referral by public health for a T x-ray
99997 – referral by a primary organization
99998 – referral by an Out of Province physician.
Billing Tips:
1. Bill Follow Ups
If you’re following up on a patient don’t forget to bill for it. For example, if you’re a GP calling the hospital, you can bill 14077, a patient conference fee, that pays $40 per 15 minutes.
(MSP has various conference calls/follow up fee codes for every speciality, to find yours click here.).
2. How to Prevent Submission Errors
Submission errors are going to happen, especially if you’re billing in high volumes, because let’s face it; everyone makes mistakes. Although getting an error is not the end of the world, it will delay your pay. Here are some common scenarios to watch out for:
- Location of fee code doesn’t match. Ie, radiologic fee code performed in ER
- There’s a fee code conflict – so assessment is required
- Invalid use of Premiums
- No Referring Physician
- Patient doesn’t have insurance
Extra Reminder: In our experience, most submission errors are a direct result of either not adding a referring physician OR not double checking that your patient has insurance. So, make sure you always check these two things before submitting a claim.
Tutorials
The New Payment Report Dashboard
If you haven’t already noticed, we’ve changed the dashboard! Now you can follow up on claims and see exactly which claims were paid, held or rejected for any payment period.
Active Claims Status and Remittance Payment Reports
Recent MSP Updates
- There’s been a pay increase for the Anesthesia Modifier P01169. This fee code is based off of your patients BMI and is billed in increments of 15 minutes. Click here to see how it get’s calculated on the app.
- Due to the Economic Stability Dividend, on February 1st, ALL MSP fee codes increased by 0.75%. Find out more here.
Keep Learning
Find Amazing presentations from across BC From BC Emergency Medicine Network
Billing Education for New-to-Practice GPs by GPSC:
An Introduction to Basic MSP Billing for Family Practice
When: April 2nd, 6:00 PM – 8:30 PM PDT
Register Here.
WorkShops with Accreditation
- Family Physicians Who Don’t Do Deliveries (6.0 Mainpro+)
- Webinars over the next 2 months from the University of British Colombia (1.0 Mainpro+)
- Prescribing Safely Online Course by The Royal College (3.0 Mainpro+ credits.
Podcasts
Here’s this month’s suggestions:
Fate minus Spending equals Happiness: Financial Tips with Dr. Healey
Geoff (Physiatrist) talks with Dr. Paul Healey (ER Staff), one of the two co-founders of the Physician Financial Independence Facebook group. Paul’s group has rapidly become one of the biggest sources of unbiased financial information for Canadian physicians.
Liar, liar, pants on fire – or at least a little bit of smoke
Mike and James talk about a couple of recent survey publications. One, which examined patient satisfaction around patient requests and denials of those requests. The other examined how often and why patients are not always honest about disclosing medically relevant information.
News Around the Nation …
- Ontario’s medical regulator flooded with complaints over doctors advocating gun control
- Study finds association between vaping and cardiovascular problems
- HIV-positive man seems to be 2nd person ever cured after transplant
- Teens, vaccines and the age of consent
This article offers general information only and is not intended as legal, financial or other professional advice. A professional advisor should be consulted regarding your specific situation. While information presented is believed to be factual and current, its accuracy is not guaranteed and it should not be regarded as a complete analysis of the subjects discussed. All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author(s) as of the date of publication and are subject to change. No endorsement of any third parties or their advice, opinions, information, products or services is expressly given or implied by RBC Ventures Inc. or its affiliates.
