Practicefirst would like to inform you, that to ensure compliance with standards established by New York State for participating providers, Independent Health has partnered with an outside vendor, SPH Analytics, to conduct brief phone call surveys regarding appointment access and availability for their members.

Starting the week of August 24th, your office may receive a phone call from a surveyor f...

NYS Medicaid has alerted Practicefirst that all providers who participate in the NYS Vaccine Program are required to complete an annual re-enrollment application.  Beginning this year, re-enrollment is being done electronically using the NYS Immunization Information System (NYSIIS).  Each participating provider organization is responsible for reviewing and updating the Provider Agreement, Pro...

In our organization, community and world, we are experiencing historic, interesting and unforgettable events that we believe will be catalysts for systemic change. Diversity is one of those subjects that is at the forefront of our concerns.

Practicefirst’s employee manual, of course, recognizes and supports diversity in our hiring practices and the workplace; however, we feel that we need to take a...

Recognizing how fortunate Practicefirst is to have healthy employees and to get through potentially difficult financial times relatively unscathed, we are expressing our gratitude by supporting organizations in our community. 

Our first recipient is the Buffalo City Mission’s “Pick a Brick” fundraising campaign, part of the Next Century Capital Campaign to raise $15 million for their new facility.

P...

As outlined in the February Coding Corner, Practicefirst will continue to provide information regarding the changes for the office visit E&M codes for the year 2021. The code descriptors of the office visit E&M will change due to the fact that the E&M will no longer be scored based on history and exam elements, and instead  will focus on medical decision making or the documentation of time.

The...

NYS Workers' Compensation

Practicefirst reminds you, that as of January 1st, 2020, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, as well as licensed clinical social workers and physical therapists can be authorized to treat injured workers in NYS.  Only those providers who are Board Authorized may treat worker’s compensation patients. PA’s and NP’s will now obtain their own board authorization.  This...

If you have received the HHS Stimulus Payment (approximately 4/10/20 for most providers) be aware of the requirement to visit the portal pursuant to the instructions you received and make your attestation. Before attesting, please contact Practicefirst if you would like us to provide you with your 2019 Medicare fee-for-service revenue for your records.

Also, HHS distributing additional $20 billion...

     Practicefirst would like to share with you information posted on the National Government Services (NGS) website regarding Amendment of Medical Records.

• Amendments, Corrections and Delayed Entries in Medical Documentation.

     Occasionally, certain entries related to services provided are not properly documented and need to be amended, corrected or entered after rendering the s...

Univera Healthcare

Practicefirst was recently notified by Univera of the following administrative policy effective May 15, 2020, to define the billing and reimbursement guidelines for increased procedural services (i.e., modifier 22) billed on professional claims. This policy is in line with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and CPT guidelines.

The new policy will apply to all practitione...

Practicefirst would like to notify our clients of important changes in the office/outpatient E/M visits effective Jan 1, 2021. Initially CMS had proposed to bring in a reduction in the payment variation for office/outpatient E/M visit levels by paying a single rate (also referred to as a blended rate) for levels 2 through 4 while maintaining the payment rate for level 5. However, as noted in the f...