March 21-22, 2007 Conference Summary:
This was the best medical
billing, coding and compliance of the year! This
ambitious annual conference brought together experts from across the country. Keynote speakers
included Tina Landskroener, CPC CCS-P CMBSI; Christine Christensen, RMC CMBSI; Robert
Liles, Esq. attorney with the Washington DC firm of Liles Parker, PLLC; and Lee
Stickney CDP, President and CEO of the Health Care Resources Network (NRCnet,
Inc.).
Once again, the
speakers gave solutions to real life problems. Mrs. Landskroener broke
down the two basic components of a compliance plan, structural and
substantive. She explained how the substantive component relates to
Medicare, Medicaid anti-kickback, Stark, ERISA, tax, antitrust, environmental,
and privacy laws. She also stressed the importance of joining billing and
coding associations and keeping up to date on changing regulations.
Mrs. Christensen
stirred the attendees attention with her talk "Never Be Afraid of an
Audit". She explained the two categories of audits; Pre-payment and
Post-payment. She covered in great depth what may cause an audit, how to
correct a problem, what to do if audited, and what to do after the results of an
audit are returned. She presented real life scenarios of unusual audits
she participated in, and kept the audience asking for more.
Attendees were on the
edge of their chairs while Mr. Liles talked about Healthcare Fraud, Violations,
and Penalties. What an eye opening experience. Mr. Liles was
straight to the point but kept the audience entertained with his real life
examples. He reminded us that health care fraud enforcement efforts serve
as a "revenue source" and not an expense to the government. Mr.
Liles reiterated the need to join medical billing associations like the Medical
Association of Billers.
Mr.
Stickney clearly explained the new CMS1500 form and NPI numbers. He
explained what the NPI was, its history, what it means today, and what it will
do in the future. There were many comments from the audience regarding
what their carriers were telling them to do regarding the new forms. Mr.
Stickney explained that is doesn't matter what the carriers say, it matters what
the laws state. If the law was not followed, there would be
consequences. He also explained every box of the new CMS 1500 which were
affected by the NPI numbers as well as implementation dates.
Thank you
to all who made this conference so special!
If you missed this fabulous event you can still get the
handouts by calling our office at 702-240-8519. The cost for the book is
$50.00 plus shipping and handling.
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