Registration

ASC Boot Camp: Coding & Billing Basics You Must Know For 2008
Presented By: Joyce Jones, CPC, CPC-H, CCS-P, CNT and Annette Grady, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, OS

2008 brings the most sweeping changes—and challenges—to ASC coding and billing in 20 years. In the face of such changes, even veteran ASC coders and billers are feeling like babes in the woods. And, if you’ve been wanting to become an ASC expert, now’s the perfect time to make your move. And this is the perfect session to help you do it.

• Get an overview of the 790 new ASC procedures—along with payment rate information that CMS will release just weeks before the conference.

• Learn how to calculate which procedure combo will help your ASC profit—and which additions could cost you big under the new rules.

• Master APCs in an easy-to-understand crash course—with handouts to take home.

• Obtain sample policies and procedures worksheets that you can customize for your ASC as soon as you return from the conference.

Registration and Breakfast/Exhibits

Get the Latest on Medicare's ASC Rule and Payment Rates-And What They Mean For You
Presented By: Stephanie Ellis, RN, CPC                        

CMS won’t release final payment rates for procedures until November, which means you’ll have a scant few weeks to prepare to code and bill effectively in 2008. Stick with us and you won’t have to scramble. Our experts will give you an easy-to-understand overview of the rule and the changes it brings, as well as the tools you need to assess the rule’s impact on your ASC and plan for its financial future.

• Learn which specialty-ASCs will profit, and which should convert to multi-specialty to survive CMS’s overall 33 percent reimbursement cut over 4 years.

• Discover how savvy ASCs will make money during next year’s 50/50 blend.

• Understand the reimbursement opportunities for implants, drugs & biologicals.

• 790 new ASC procedures? Here are the ones that should stay in the office if physicians want to hold their own.

• Expect a CMS cap for nearly 360 office-based procedures. How smart ASCs will profit by cutting some services—and adding others.

A Whole New Ballgame: ASC Fraud & Abuse Rules In 2008
Presented By: Stephanie Ellis, RN, CPC

2008 rewrites the rulebook for ASCs. Discover the new pitfalls—as well as new ways to profit and still comply with the new rules. Get a refresher course on compliance mistakes most ASCs make, and how facility managers, physicians, coders and billers can work together to reduce risk.

• Good news for physician investors: Anti-kickback and Stark rules no longer apply for 3 services.

• Bad news: Physicians who want to bail out of an ASC can still run afoul of Stark and anti-kickback.

• Discover 3 physician-ASC coordination billing blunders that will trigger an audit—and get the procedures to prevent them. 

Lunch

Refreshment Break

BREAKOUTS

Option A:
Oooooommph! How GI ASCs Can Survive 2008's Sucker Punch
Presented By: Stephanie Ellis, RN, CPC

GI physicians, coders, and ASCs face huge changes in 2008. Experts say gastroenterology is one of the specialties that will take the biggest reimbursement hits. The old reliable screening colonscopy will become less profitable in an ASC setting, and ASCs must identify and add complex new procedures that will help them profit.

Option B:
Ancillary Alert: Coding For Non-Surgeries
Presented By: Joanne Schade-Boyce, RDH, MS, CPC

BREAKOUTS

Option A:
Billing and Coding Tactics for General Surgery, Respiratory, Gyn, & Urology ASCs                                                 
Presented By: Joanne Schade-Boyce, RDH, MS, CPC

Experts are predicting a good prognosis for general surgery ASCs in 2008, but the outcome might be dire for some specialties.  What will happen if cystoscopy reimbursement gets cut by 4 percent next year, as CMS plans? Is the addition of several vaginal and cervix endoscopies and biopsies of the vulva and perineum to the ASC approved list good news or bad news for gynecology specialists? Join top surgery coder and ASC guru Joanne Schade-Boyce for the answers. 

Option B:
ASC Billing Strategies That Work                                                   Presented By: Joyce Jones, CPC, CPC-H, CCS-P, CNT

Even outstanding ASC billers have to deal with outstanding AR. In this session, you’ll learn 7 winning strategies to help you start collecting on your accounts receivable. We’ll also reveal Medicare’s top 9 reasons for denying claims to your ASC, and show you how to create a denials management system to solve those problems.

Continental Breakfast

BREAKOUTS

Option A:
A Really Good Break: How Ortho ASCs Can Make the Most of the 2008 Changes
Presented By: Annette Grady, CPC, CPC-H, CPC-P, OS

In 2008, orthopedic surgeons will be able to treat hip dislocations, perform knee joint revisions and apply long leg casts in ambulatory surgery centers. This means a major opportunity—if you know how to capitalize on it.  Learn how to use the new codes, and what the potential pitfalls are. Get the dirt on whether payers will really pay for those new codes you’ve been waiting for—and discover billing techniques that will make the new codes work for you, not against you. 

Option B:
How Much Is It Costing You To Do Your Cases?: How Savvy ASCs Identify Procedures That Benefit Them Most
Presented By: Jerry W. Henderson, RN, MBA, CASC, CNOR

Smart ASCs understand that the full story of their reimbursement doesn’t begin and end with the fee schedule. You need to understand exactly how much it costs your facility to perform certain procedures, on a patient-by-patient basis.  Case costing is providing these answers for many of your colleagues. Learn how to bring clinical, financial and statistical data together to find out which procedures are moneymakers and which ones could be draining your resources. Get a clearer picture of your bottom line — and the best ways to improve it.

Refreshment Break

Be Prepared: Advanced APCs session
Presented By: Susan E. Garrison, CPC, CHC, CCS P, CPAR, CPC H

Dig into the new guidelines for ASC reimbursement with claim examples. Bring your claims and let’s walk them through the new reimbursement vs. current reimbursement. What will it mean to your bottom-line? Using your own case examples, you’ll get a walkthrough of modifiers and bundling issues—and determine how the new reimbursement system will effect your actual claims. You’ll also discuss the best practices and biggest problems for ASCs in an expert roundtable forum.