The Affordable Care Act ushers in a new era in physical therapy and is right around the corner. Functional limitation reporting or G Codes – are one of the many new requirements in physical therapy for the treatment of Medicare patients. These new requirements have surely caused concerns for many in the industry, rest assured, if you are a TheraOffice On-Site or TheraOffice Web user, you will be compliant by the July 1st deadline.
Although there is no financial incentive to G Codes (like there are for PQRS), reporting these codes will now become a requirement. The testing period between January 1 and July 1 will not result in any rejected claims; however, once this testing phase is over, any claims without the correct G Codes and modifiers will be returned and denied for all Medicare claims.
We’ve been listening and watching to see what would work best in the practices of TheraOffice users and we have come out with a couple ways to help make your life as easy as possible (at least from a reporting standpoint!) Below is a roadmap of what we’re working on now:
Step 1 – Update TheraOffice
The first step to adding the G Codes into TheraOffice will begin within the next few weeks! For TheraOffice On-Site users, an update will be published that contains the normal maintenance fixes and a few new small features. This update will also contain new features to help make the following download easier…
Step 2 – Manual G Code Testing
The next step will be an update that will add new sections to TheraOffice Documentation which will allow for manual G Code entry and testing. For TheraOffice On-Site users, this will be a CD update which will need to be updated on each computer and the database. For TheraOffice Web customers, this will just be a normal downloadable client software update.
Once this update has been applied, the Document Map found in Documentation will now have two new sections: Outcomes and Functional Limitation Reporting (see below).
The Outcomes section will allow for manual free form entry of functional tests or you can integrate with a separate software (that we don’t officially have a name for yet…but we will just call it “MedG” for now). The Functional Limitation Reporting section that will be added will allow for the therapist to manually enter codes, OR, if using “MedG” the therapist can simply just click on the “Suggest Codes” button to automatically calculate which G Codes to bill for. TheraOffice will recommend the current or discharge CPT codes and the CPT codes as well as the method and modifier.
If the clinic chooses to use “MedG,” the front desk staff will be able to initiate right from TheraOffice Scheduling which patient and tests need to be performed. It will be included in the drop down options when right clicking on that particular patient’s appointment.
Another option other than having the front desk staff perform the tests, would be for the therapist to perform the tests themself. In the Documentation module within TheraOffice, the therapist would click the “test with MedG” option that will be integrated into the top toolbar of the new Outcomes section. The therapist would then be able to choose which tests to perform.
Step 3 – “MedG” (Not the Actual Name) App
“MedG” which is a mobile app for Windows 8 and iPad will allow patients to complete functional tests and then be imported into the new Outcomes section automatically.
After choosing the correct patient and test(s), the front desk staff or therapist would launch “MedG” on a Microsoft Surface or iPad. If able, the patient will be handed the tablet and the assessment will begin – or the therapist could help the patient with the functional tests.
When the patient completes the test, they will return the tablet back to the front desk staff or therapist. The therapist can then review the test and clarify any questions that the patient might have. This is a great opportunity for the Therapist to also check progress with the patient. The therapist will then be able to download the scores, tests, and test categories in new Outcomes section of Documentation.
Finally – when in the Charges section of Documentation, any G Codes suggested in the Functional Limitation section will be pulled in much like they are for treatments.
We are excited to get “MedG” and the Functional Limitation Reporting updates out to you as soon as possible. We understand how important it is for you to begin practicing on these reporting measures during this current testing period.
If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to leave your comments below!
We do not have tablets that we can hand to a patient and the front desk does not have the time to ask every individual question to a patient. If you can produce forms that we can print off and hand to patients to complete prior to treatment, our staff can then enter the results into the software that you set up.
Here is a link that you can follow that has samples of all outcome measures and similar questions that “MedG” would have. Scroll to Appendix B for the tests/ questions. Please keep in mind that this is just one example and that there are more out there.
http://www.sph.sc.edu/dpt/dpt-rehab/pdf/Registry_of_Outcome_Measures_with_MDC_2010.pdf
It would be nice if the MedG app could also integrate patient intake forms (medical history, demographics, etc). This information could also be imported directly into the patient information in documentation. Is there any possibility of this happening?
Are you going to mail out the CD Update to on-site users and do you know when it will be ready yet?
We’ll do CD or download, we always ship CD’s out to On-Site customers, but if you opt to download, you can do it that way since it’s faster and easier than going to each computer with a CD. We will not have any official dates set until we get into testing.
I saw you all at CSM and had a chance to see how a tablet could be used to collect outcomes, and it was really cool. If I understand this update correctly, we will be receiving the CD/uplaod it to each computer/and can start using it immediately wtih a wireless system in our clinic for clients to fill out at the front desk (hopefully).
Until this comes out, is there an update that will allow the PTs to enter the G Codes manually into Theraoffice or do they need to write them on a charge sheet until it is possible to do in the software?
lastly, I want my clinicians to watch an educational video on PQRS and G codes for training. your recommendations woudl be appreciated.
many thanks!
You are correct. We will do CD or download, we always ship CD’s out to On-Site customers, but if you choose to download, you can do it that way since it’s faster and easier than going to each computer with a CD.
We will not have an update that will allow the PT’s to enter the G Codes manually into TheraOffice. You will need to keep them on a charge sheet until we update the software. Although we do not have a specific date set, this update will be available soon!
Is there a way to suggest which outcome measures will be available through “MedG” ? I know there is quite a variety and each clinic has their preference, however I am sure there are some tests that are more widely used.
We are currently focusing on 20 tests. Some of these include; Oswestry, Neck Disability Index, Global Rate of Change, Berg Balance Test, Foot Function Index, Visual Pain Analog Scale, Six Minute Walk Test, Romberg Test, etc.
I am guessing “MedG” will have an additional cost. Do you have any idea on what that will be. We are trying to decide on moving forward with FOTO vs waiting to see what your system looks like and cost will be a factor.
For any active TheraOffice Web customer and any TheraOffice On-Site customer in Subscription or any TheraOffice On-Site customer with a direct purchase maintenance contract, there will be no cost for the basic tests. There will be tests later on that we will add that are copy protected that may incur some additional costs to pay the royalties to the companies. Hope this helps!
There are many other ojective standardized tests not listed in the link; functional activitiy scores should also be based on functional assessment: goal related. Please be sure to add all balance test possibilites, including tinnetti. May want to check out how Synergy is using the current functional activitiy section to assign G-codes. thanks.
Tinetti is also one of the 20 tests that we will be included within the update
We plan to begin using the functional codes tomorrow, 3-1-13, in order to get our process down before it is a requirement in July. Do you have something in place, now, that will allow us to see how this is going to go out on a claim?
There is nothing in place at the moment, however, we are looking to have the software updates out to you as soon as possible!
Do we have an exact date for these upgrades? We want to be trained and ready to start using the G codes and modifiers by April 1st. I really do need a date to begin the training process, I was told there will be webinars are you offering any other type of training?
Unfortunately we do not have an official date for this release yet. Development is working diligently to get these out to you as soon as possible. We will be offering training videos and we will hope to have these out by the end of this week or early next week. That way you can have the opportunity to learn about the upgrades before you even begin using them. Thank you for your comment we will keep you updated!
In this section on your information about G-Codes – at the end , don’t you mean….Thereoffice will recoommend thehcurrent or discharge status G code and the goal G code – you put in CPT code?
YOur info:
The Outcomes section will allow for manual free form entry of functional tests or you can integrate with a separate software (that we don’t officially have a name for yet…but we will just call it “MedG” for now). The Functional Limitation Reporting section that will be added will allow for the therapist to manually enter codes, OR, if using “MedG” the therapist can simply just click on the “Suggest Codes” button to automatically calculate which G Codes to bill for. TheraOffice will recommend the current or discharge status CPT code and the goal CPT as well as the method and modifier.
How will you be able to use an IPAD if you are unable to use the IPAD in Thera-Office currently for documenting? This seems confusing in that we are currently unable to use them…
Med G can be ran on an iPad or Windows 8 tablet because it’s the ideal technology to give to a patient to perform these functional tests on. Most likely you’d want to give the patient an iPad or Windows 8 tablet that is separate from TheraOffice, because if it gets lost / broken / stolen it doesn’t contain anything else other than Med G. Also you wouldn’t want to have to give your patient your iPad or Windows 8 tablet when you were trying to use it, so this is really designed to be a separate application from TheraOffice. We will continue to work on iPad applications where they make sense – for example running Accounting on an iPad isn’t probably that useful. Thank you for your question!
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