Date: Saturday, March 14th, 2009
Check-In Time(s): 7:30am-8:00am
Class Time(s): 8:00am-5:00pm
Location: Fairview Southdale Hospital, International Rooms A & B

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

Speaker(s):
Cathy Brennan, MA, OTR/L, FAOTA, is an occupational therapy consultant to private and public insurance payers and has coordinated the Peer Review System for the Minnesota Occupational Therapy Association (MOTA) since 1987.  In this capacity, she has reviewed hundreds of occupational therapy records and has daily contact with public and private insurers regarding documentation and reimbursement issues.  Cathy has been involved in the field for 35 years, is past MOTA president, and is currently serves on the MOTA Board as Vice President of Advocacy coordinating the Government Affairs Committee, Quality Management, and Reimbursement Committee.  Cathy is a graduate of the College of St. Catherine, has a master's degree in curriculum and instruction from the University of St. Thomas and has been a Fellow of the AOTA since 1992. She currently is editor of the AOTA Adminstration and Management Special Interest Section Newsletter. Cathy presented an AudioInsight Seminar sponsored by the AOTA entitiled, "Documentation: The Key to Succesful Justification of Occupational Therapy Services", on Feburary 7, 2007. She has presented documentation workshops at numerous local, state and national conferences.
Monica Robinson, MS, OTR/L
Monica has been a practicing occupational therapist for over 20 years, with experience in physical rehabilitation, psychiatry, private practice, home health and long-term care. She received her BS in OT from Boston University and her Masters in Advance Practice OT from San Jose State University. Monica participates on AOTA's Alternatives to the Cap Committee and the CPT Coding Committee, and is the AOTA Administration and Managment Special Interest Section Communication and Reimbursement Liason. She partcipates on an advisory panel for a Medicare contractor, National Government Services (formerly AdminaStar Federal), representing occupational therapy practice in Ohio. She is the Government Services Affairs Chair for the Ohio Occupational Therapy Association and is responsible for state and federal legislative issues. She is currently President-Elect of OOTA.  Monica presented at the American Society of Hand Therapists pre-conference workshop, "Coding and Documentation for Maximum Reimbursement". She is the author of an AOTA OT Practice continuing education article, "Medicare 101: Understanding the Basics". Currently she is employed by HCR Manor Care as their Rehab Systems Consultant reponsible for OT practice, documentation, regulatory issues and coding.
Cathy and Monica co-authored, "Documentation-Getting It Right to Avoid Medicare Denials", OT Practice, Volume 11, Issue 14, 10-15, August 14, 2006. Cathy and Monica were faculty for AOTA's Workshop, "Getting Paid: Documenting and Coding Occupational Therapy Services", which was presented in several locations around the country in 2006. They also presented at the 2007 AOTA Preconference Institute on Coding and Documentation. Cathy and Monica co-authored, "How to Apply New Medicare Part B Documentation Requirements" for the AOTA Management Special Interests Section Quarterly Newsletter, Vol. 23, #3, Septemeber, 2007.  

Course Description:
Documentation and coding skills have become as important to therapy as practice itself. With ever-increasing scrutiny from payers (insurance and Medicare), it is critical that we know how to use proper coding and to document our specialized skills and the impact these skills have on our clients’ functional skills.  The reimbursement challenge for every therapist and assistant is to secure coverage by selecting the key elements necessary to “tell the story” about a client’s functional performance and the impact therapy intervention has made in his or her life. Participants will learn the use of Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) billing, including Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edit rules, International Classification of Diseases (ICD-9-CM) coding and related documentation issues. Rules and regulations for proper documentation and billing will be explained and strategies for managing denials for all payers will be presented.  This course will include hands on practice in documentation for all areas of practice and examples will include occupational therapy, physical therapy, and speech pathology.

 *This course is eligible for AOTA Approved Provider credit. The assignment AOTA CEU's does not imply endorsement of specific course content, products or clinical procedures by AOTA.*
*This course is eligible for MN Board of PT Category 1 continuing education credit.*

Course Objectives:
Recognize the correct use of CPT codes and modifiers and ICD-9-CM codes in documenting and billing therapy services.
Describe and document medical necessity.
Identify strategies to facilitate payment by adhering to Medicare Part B coding and documentation requirements.
Identify the components necessary to write functional outcome goals and practice writing these goals.
Identify common documentation pitfalls that may result in non-payment for services by third-party payers.
Recognize the importance of writing skilled therapy statements that identify the intervention used by the therapist or therapy assistant to facilitate the client’s progress in functional performance areas.
Identify selected strategies to manage payer denials of therapy services.

Course Agenda:
8:00-8:30am-     Registration and pre-test
8:30-10:30am-   History of CPT Coding
                        CPT Coding Basics
10:30-10:45am- Break
10:45-12:30pm- Correct Coding Initiatives/Use of Modifiers
                        ICD-9 Code Selection
                        Medicare Part B Cap and Exception Process
12:30-1:30pm-   Lunch
1:30-3:15pm-     Medicare Part B Documentation Requirements- Evaluation and Re-Evaluation
                        Components of Skilled Care- Practical Experience Writing Skilled Care Statements
                        Requirements for Treatment Notes
                        Requirements for Progress Notes
3:15-3:30pm-    Break
3:30-5:00-         Components of Functional Outcome Goals- Practical Experience Writing Goals
                       Requirements for Discharge Summary
                       Documentation Details
                       Denials Management
                       Post Test Answers and Questions
                       Conclusion