Schedule	General Surgery Track
	Pre-Conference Workshop- Thursday, December 1, 2011
11:00am – 1:00pm	Early Registration/ Exhibits
1:00pm – 5:00pm	Conducting Your Own In-House Surgery Audit
	Surgery claims represent the single, largest revenue for your surgical practice. Inaccurate, incomplete or suboptimal coding could result in substantial losses to your surgical practice revenue. Part I of this presentation will present assessing the needs for a surgical audit, tools and techniques for a successful audit and determining the appropriate scope as well as calculating the potential lost revenue. Part II of the presentation will start with the accumulation of data from Part I, the statistical annualization of lost revenue, areas that need additional review as well as how to evaluate the potential for third party audits and the possibility of fraud and/or abuse allegations. The compliance effort for your surgical practice starts with YOU! Evaluate your practice with your own in-house practice audit.
Presenter:	Marsha S. Diamond, CPC®, CPC-H®, CCS
2:45pm – 3:00pm
	Main Conference Sessions Day 1 – Friday, December 2, 2011
8:00am – 9:00am	Registration/ Refreshments/ Exhibits
9:00am – 10:00am	10 Most Common Surgical Coding Errors
	Coding errors can cost your practice significant revenue, so take a look at the most common missed or mis-coded surgical coding errors to insure these are not happening in your practice! Presentation will outline the most costly surgical coding errors and techniques to insure they do not happen in your practice in the future. Statistics regarding the cost to your practice for these costly errors will be included to emphasize the significant impact on the surgical practice.
Presenter:	Marsha S. Diamond, CPC®, CPC-H®, CCS
10:00am-10:15am	Refreshment Break/ Exhibits
10:15am-12:15pm	Finding that Surgery Code – Easy as 1,2, 3
	Do you have difficulty locating the most appropriate CPT code for your surgical procedures? Unsure when the unlisted code is the ONLY code to utilize? Bring your CPT book and learn how the CPT Surgery section is structured to easily “break down” the appropriate codes for your surgical procedure. Session will include tool and techniques for locating the correct surgical codes as well as a practice session to apply techniques learned.
Presenter:	Marsha S. Diamond, CPC®, CPC-H®, CCS
1:15pm-2:15pm	It’s All About the Skin
	No matter what kind of surgery you do, you are likely to do skin procedures. Code them correctly and know when to choose codes from other systems to appropriately describe your services. We’ll look at basic coding and complex operative notes as we discuss flaps, grafts, skin substitutes, excision and repairs.
Presenter:	Marcella Bucknam, CPC®, CCS-P, CPC-H®, CCS, CPC-P®, CPC-I®, CCC™, COBGYNC
2:15pm-3:15pm	Shoulder Scope Coding: Missed Opportunities
	Learn proper coding guidelines to accurately report your ASC’s Shoulder Arthroscopies. Coding directives from the AMA, AAOS, and Medicare will be provided as well as tips for coding arthroscopic procedures of the shoulder. Learn “when” a query is necessary so as to capture correct reimbursement for shoulder procedures. Understand correct application of the Medicare edits to avoid missed opportunities. This program will assist your facility with accurately capturing its orthopaedic procedures within a framework of compliance with individual carrier guidelines and policies.
Presenter:	Cristina Bentin, CPC-H®, CCS-P, CMA
3:30pm-4:30pm	General Surgery for the Musculoskeletal System
	Use codes throughout the musculoskeletal system to describe your work and increase your reimbursement. From injections to resections, general surgeons perform services best described (and rembursed!) with codes from the musculoskeletal system. Will include case notes to code and discuss.
Presenter:	Marcella Bucknam, CPC®, CCS-P, CPC-H®, CCS, CPC-P®, CPC-I®, CCC™, COBGYNC
5:00-6:00 p.m.	Reception and Fellowship
	Main Conference Sessions Day 2 – Saturday, December 3, 2011
8:00am – 9:00am	Breakfast/ Exhibits
9:00am – 10:00am	Modifers, it$ About the Money
	Modifiers are an integral part of CPT and a key to coding and being reimbursed correctly. This class looks at the different modifiers, where they can be used (with what codes) and how they can be used. Additionally, specific examples are reviewed for each modifier.
Presenter:	Barbara Cobuzzi, MBA, CPC®, CENTC™, CPC-H®, CPC-P®, CPC®-I, CHCC
10:00am-10:15am	Refreshment Break/ Exhibits
10:15am-11:15am	Top 10 Compliance Concerns for General Surgery Practices
	You know you’re taking good care of your patients and you know you are not overcharging anyone. On the other hand, the government seems to want to take back more money than you’re bringing in…and they’re threatening too! Here are the top 10 things you need to be aware of and working on in 2012 including issues on the OIG’s workplan and the very scary RACs and other government investigators.
Presenter:	Marcella Bucknam, CPC®, CCS-P, CPC-H®, CCS, CPC-P®, CPC-I®, CCC™, COBGYNC
11:15am-12:15pm	Five Steps You Can Take This Week to Improve Your Organization’s Medicare Compliance Efforts
	Are you concerned about your organization’s compliance with Medicare’s various requirements? During this session, we will discuss five steps you can THIS WEEK to improve the likelihood of your organization’s compliance with Medicare’s provisions. After this session, you will be well on the way to meeting your obligations as a participating provider in the Medicare program
Presenter:	Rober Liles, Esq.
12:15pm – 1:15pm	Lunch/ Exhibits
1:15pm-2:15pm	General Surgery Woes and Foes with a Glimpse of ICD-10-CM
	During this session Joanne will present multiple General Surgery operative reports where she will compare and constrast the reported versus the corrected procedure(s) and ICD-9-CM code(s)…she’ll…even throw in a look at some ICD-10 coding to boot!
Presenter:	Joanne Schade-Boyce, RDH, MS, CPC®, ACS, PCS
2:15pm-3:15pm	General Surgery Code Changes for 2012
	All the new codes, CPT, ICD-9 and HCPCS, to describe your services with details of bundling and global days to help you make the most of your work in 2012
Presenter:	Marcella Bucknam, CPC®, CCS-P, CPC-H®, CCS, CPC-P®, CPC-I®, CCC™, COBGYNC
3:15pm-3:30pm	Refreshment Break/ Exhibits
3:30pm-4:30pm	Understand the Global Surgical Package
	Understand the global surgical package and how to use modifiers to correctly bill for services during the global period. Review the components of the global surgical package and payment rules for minor surgeries, endoscopies and global surgical packages that are split between two or more physicians. Understand the differences between Medicare and CPT.
Presenter:	Elin Baklid-Kunz, MBA, CPC®, CCS