The New York State Assembly Insurance and Labor Committees will be holding a joint hearing in late December to examine the proposed Worker’s Compensation fee schedule. As you are aware, we have been working diligently on the changes that the Worker’s Compensation Board has been promulgating since 2007, and we have met several times with the Workers’ Compensation Board specifically on the fee schedule issue. We will be presenting testimony at the hearing. We are in the process of preparing testimony for submission. In addition, we will be testifying in person, in conjunction with the New York Chiropractic Council, at this hearing.

Arlington, Va. – The American Chiropractic Association (ACA), the New York State Chiropractic Association (NYSCA), and National Government Services, Inc., the Jurisdiction K Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC), jointly presented a special Medicare documentation seminar in Queens, N.Y. The event provided in-depth instruction on how to properly bill and document chiropractic services under the Medicare program.

Recent government reports show a need for the chiropractic profession to improve its documentation skills. A bill introduced this month in the U.S. House of Representatives calls for HHS to develop a training program for doctors of chiropractic (DCs) whose claim error rates are higher than the profession’s national average. DCs who avail themselves to ACA-sponsored programs will avoid pre-authorization requirements that non-compliant providers could eventually face.

The program presented in New York featured ACA Medicare Committee representatives Michael Jacklitch, DC, Steven Conway, DC, as well as National Government Services representatives Kathy Dunphy, Laurence Clark, MD, and Greg McKinney, MD. Organizers viewed it as a possible template for the future national education program that HHS seeks to establish.

Of particular focus during the training is how DCs should document ongoing treatments and maintenance therapy. Government reports show that a high percentage of chiropractic Medicare documentation does not meet regulatory requirements. “ACA is on record supporting quality documentation tenets, ensuring a much lower error rate with Medicare claims,” said ACA President Anthony Hamm, DC. “Proper documentation will ensure that our claims data is accurate and complete.”

“The format of this presentation allowed for an open dialogue between attendees, National Government Services leaders, and the ACA Medicare Committee to determine how processes may be improved for all concerned. NYSCA looks forward to working with the ACA and National Government Services not only to provide additional meetings but in implementing improvements,” said NYSCA past president and New York Carrier Advisory Committee representative, Mariangela Penna, DC.

Dunphy, National Government Services director of congressional affairs, added, “We appreciate the ACA’s willingness to work proactively toward improving billing practices and look forward to continuing to work with the organization and its members to reduce error rates on chiropractic claims billed to Medicare.”

ACA plans to conduct additional seminars with National Government Services in the Northeast, and is open to working with other MACs that wish to hold similar programs in other jurisdictions.

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The American Chiropractic Association (ACA), based in Arlington, VA, is the largest professional association in the United States advocating for more than 130,000 doctors of chiropractic (DCs), chiropractic assistants (CAs) and chiropractic students. ACA promotes the highest standards of ethics and patient care, contributing to the health and well-being of millions of chiropractic patients. Visit us at www.acatoday.org.