Guest guest Posted September 15, 1998 Report Share Posted September 15, 1998 Todd, You can see my answer to Carol to get some answers to your questions below, but I'll elaborate a little more. > Are you consistant we CPT code language or time? Yes, we are totally consistent with CPT language. Since we are a Columbia/HCA facility, we are instructed to be very careful in making sure we adhere to these definitions. Most of the P.T. codes are per 15 minutes, with a few being " per visit. " > Is that considered 1 unit or 3? One. However, we sometimes use the manual muscle testing and ROM codes also, so that may bring the units up. Are other facilities doing that also? If not, when, if at all, are you using them? > How do you account for documentation time, inservices and other non--patient care activities? It is built into our target multiplier that I explain in my response to Carol. > How does your staff document this information? We used to have therapists keep track of all of that and write down every little thing, but it got to be too much. With all of the other demands on our time, this was determined to be unnecessary. Also, since we are using our current system of multiplying our units charged by a target multiplier, non-treatment time is a moot point. Mark Dwyer, MHA, PT Kansas City, Kansas mdwyer1@... ______________________________________________________________________ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted September 15, 1998 Report Share Posted September 15, 1998 Carol, I should have stated this in my past response, but the reason we do not break things down further (such as a 45 minute eval into 3 units) is that the Columbia system tracks what was charged in the computer billing system and aggregates it within its divisions. Currently we are part of the Pacific division and our data are entered into a huge database that compares us to the other 130 odd hospitals in that group. Since the data come from our billing system, and the data in that computer system are expected to match up with our daily productivity, we cannot " play funny " with the numbers. That's what we get when we use CPT codes. The CPT definitions have really screwed up my Speech Therapy department since almost none of those codes are time based. So an hour treatment that used to be charged at 4 units is now charged at 1-2 units, depending on what the SLP did. Also as a result, it is killing us in the productivity system since it was modeled on 15 minute units. Something will have to change with that system, but since we are going to be sold within the month I am not getting too worked up about it. :-) Mark Dwyer, MHA, PT Kansas City Kansas mdwyer1@... Re: RE: Productivity >1.Your description of eval would be counted as 3 units. >2. We track " non-billable " 15 minute units of time as statistics, i.e.,30 min. of documentation time per day is 2 units, a 1 hr pt. staffing is 4 units, etc. Then our monthly report tracks total departmental nonbillable units. We also track missed treatment units the same way in order to get a handle on potential lost revenue because of reasons cited by code, ie, staff unavailable, patient ill, patient refused, etc. Gives us an idea about what are the problems and what can be improved upon to reduce % of missed tx units in the future. >>>> Todd Cepica 09/15 12:49 PM >>> >Mark (and others) > >I am referring to the following post: > >>Your goal of 140 billable 15 minute units per day for 2 PT's and 3 PTA's (28 >>units per therapists = 7 treatment hours per day per therapist) is close to >>what we expect. We allow 6.5 hours per day for patient care and expect >>25-26 units. That may change when we go under PPS, but the fact is that we >>exceed 25 units fairly often. This is the expectation for PT and OT. > >My question is this: >How do you define units? Are you consistant we CPT code language or time? I.e. PT eval can only be billed once but may involve 3 units of time (in 15 min increments). Is that considered 1 unit or 3? How do you account for documentation time, inservices and other non--patient care activities? How does your staff document this information? > >Thanks for your insight. >T > >^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ >Todd Cepica, P.T. >Assistant Director >Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation >University Medical Center >Lubbock, Tx 79417 >Ph: Fax: >ntc@... > > > >______________________________________________________________________ > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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