VMG Health Q&A: Sitting Down with Our Industry Experts

Pam D’Apuzzo

At VMG Health, we’re dedicated to sharing our knowledge. Our experts present at in-person conferences and virtual webinars to bring you the latest compliance, strategy, and transaction insight. Sit down with our in-house experts in this blog series, where we unpack the five key takeaways from our latest speaking engagements.

1. Can you provide a high-level overview of what you spoke about at the FMHA/NEHIA Compliance & Internal Audit Conference?

I spoke about the 2024 regulatory changes from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) as well as the American Medical Association (AMA) CPT changes. These changes are important to stay up to date on to avoid audits and noncompliance.

2. What do you think the audience was the most surprised to learn from your presentation?

For telehealth, the relaxations of those regulations and what’s permissible post-pandemic may be surprising. For example, Federally Qualified Health Centers can serve as distant site providers for behavioral health telemedicine services; Medicare patients can receive their behavioral health care through telehealth in their homes; behavioral and mental health services can be received through audio-only platforms.

For evaluation and management (E&M) services, the CMS and AMA shared/split E&M guidelines may be surprising to providers. In 2024, AMA redefined “substantive portion” and CMS adopted the CPT definition. Organizations should educate providers on these changes and establish ongoing monitoring and auditing of shared/split services to ensure compliance with revised guidelines.

3. How do you think your presentation helped healthcare leaders better prepare for challenges? 

The most impactful way for leaders to prepare is by concentrating on upcoming audit risks and identifying areas for improvement through internal audits.

4. What resources would you suggest for those interested in learning more? 

To really ensure your practice is billing and coding correctly, using technology can remove some of that heavy lifting from your staff. VMG Health’s Compliance Risk Analyzer (CRA) is a suite of tools that analyzes every insurance claim your practice submits. The CRA identifies high-risk providers, services, and procedures. The solution provides your practice with a risk-based audit workflow that is easy to access and understand, allowing you to focus on patient care rather than audits and recoupment demands.

5. If someone takes only one message from your presentation, what would you want it to be?  

Monitor, monitor, monitor. All regulatory changes lead to greater audit risk when people don’t pay close attention to every requirement of those changes. Implement regular monitoring of coding and billing practices to mitigate risk and enhance revenue integrity for your organization.

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