News

The Board of Medical Specialty Coding’s HCS-D exam is PPS current to the new changes Jan. 1, 2008. As always, test-takers may bring in an ICD-9 book as a reference, and it is the test-takers responsibility to bring a current book to the test-taking venue. New case-mix lists will not be provided, nor may they be printed out loose-leaf and brought into the exam area.

All major ICD-9 books have indicators of case-mix codes. You will not need to know the payment question interactions beyond M0230, M0240 and M0246 for the exam. For example, you would not need to know that a GI diagnosis needs M0550 to earn case-mix points. As a result, a current ICD-9 book will contain all of the information you need. BMSC does recommend the DecisionHealth’s Complete Home Health ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Coding Manual as the best resource for test-takers of customers by Oct. 1, when they needed it for code changes. But the Final Rule had not yet been printed. BMSC and DecisionHealth are publishing and certification partners.

Go to www.decisionhealth.com to learn more about this book.

DecisionHealth, the publishing partner of the Board of Medical Specialty Coding, announces that its ICD-9 Diagnosis Coding Manual is being reprinted for PPS changes and will be sent to all customers before PPS is effective Jan. 1, 2008.

If you have a 2008 ICD-9 book, (with a green band) it is current for the Oct. 1, 2007, code set change, and has proposed PPS rules and changes in it. DecisionHealth wanted the book in the hands of customers by Oct.1, when they needed it for code changes. But the Final Rule had not yet been printed.

With PPS approaching, DecisionHealth will print a book current for Jan. 1, 2008, changes for free to all customers. DecisionHealth has been working with home health coding expert Lisa Selman-Holman has been reviewing and updating all of the tips and scenarios in the book to 2008 PPS changes. There will be more tips, and documentation on what case-mix category a code falls into (Psych 1, Neuro 2, etc.) throughout the tabular index, in addition to the icons, Medicare Benefits Policy Manual, benchmarks and other add-ons.

The interactive versions of the book: www.icd9interactive.com and the CD-ROM version will be updated as well.

ROCKVILLE, Md. - October 4, 2007 – The 2007 Coder Salary Survey released in the October issue of Diagnosis Coding Pro for Home Health, a DecisionHealth® publication, shows that specialized training – such as home care coding certification – is a proven way to get managers and administrators see you as the go-to person in a challenging environment.

Diagnosis Coding Pro for Home Health received 126 responses to the home care coding salary survey. Of the 126 responses, nearly half cited the benefits of certification as “increased respect from agency and staff”, “personal assessment of coding strengths” and “acknowledgement of coding experience.” Additionally, a specialized home care coding certification can lead to more money. 38% of respondents said that they received a raise as a result of becoming a certified coder. An additional 7% said that they were promoted. It is clear that certification is paving the path to career advancement.

The Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC), the certification arm of DecisionHealth®, is the premier provider of certification for coders, clinicians and compliance professionals. BMSC is dedicated to the evaluation, recognition, and advancement of professional medical coders within physician offices, facility and post-acute settings. BMSC offers the Home Care Coding Specialist – Diagnosis (HCS-D) certification for home care coding professionals.

The full report on the salary survey including certification details and several salary benchmarks is available for download at the Board of Medical Specialty Coding website. Visit www.medicalspecialtycoding.com to download a copy of the 2007 Coder Salary Survey.

ROCKVILLE, Md.-- October 1, 2007— Effective October 2007, the Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC) will no longer offer paper exams. BMSC will continue to offer its skills based exams at DecisionHealth® and BMSC sponsored conference such as the Annual Specialty Coding Extravaganza and the Annual Home Care Coding Summit. BMSC will also continue to offer and emphasize its online testing option. BMSC coding credential candidates can test their exam online and receive their exam results via email within 24 hours.

About the Board of Medical Specialty Coding:

The Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC) is the premier provider of certification for coders, clinicians and compliance professionals. BMSC is dedicated to the evaluation, recognition, and advancement of professional medical coders within physician offices, facility and post-acute settings.

ROCKVILLE, Md.—July 6, 2007 — The Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC), the premier provider of certification, education and training in the medical specialty field, announces the relaunch of its website, www.medicalspecialtycoding.com. The site was redesigned to better meet the needs of professionals who are seeking specialty credentials in home care and physician coding, as well as the compliance field.

BMSC offers four different compliance and coding certifications, including:

• The Specialty Coding Professional (SCP), designed for a physician coder with about two years of experience, in 13 specialties,
• The Advanced Coding Specialist (ACS), designed for the expert physician coder with five years or more experience, in 15 specialties,
• The Certified Compliance Professional – Physician (CCP-P), designed for compliance officers with about two years of experience, and
• The Home Care Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D) certification is for home care coders who have been coding at least two years within their specialty.

The ACS, SCP and HCS-D, while coding exams, also focus on coding guideline and convention issues, as well as other regulatory issues that a coder should be aware of. The CCP-P is aimed toward those professionals who work in small-to-medium-size physician offices.

Part of the relaunch is to showcase the skill assessment questions on the site, which can help a coder gauge which exam to take. In conjunction, individual exam outlines are listed to give a candidate a good idea of subject matter. This relaunch also makes signing up for an online exam much easier.

"With these online offerings, it was essential that our website be more user-friendly," said Victoria Forlini, BMSC Executive Director. "Both physician office and home health agency professionals can find resources on this site that will help them in their jobs – as well as prepare them for certification," she continued.

BMSC will soon be increasing its line of study and coding resources, as it pushes its focus on creating a career ladder for coders to climb through education, training and certification.

For more information about BMSC certification opportunities call 800-897-4509.

ROCKVILLE, Md.—February 5, 2007—The Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC) , formerly the Board of Advanced Medical Coding (BAMC), the premier certification body for specialty coders, is now offering specialty coding and compliance certification exams online. All four BMSC certification exams; Specialty Coding Professionals (SCP), Advanced Coding Professional (ACS), Certified Compliance Professional (CCP-P) and the Home Care Coding Specialist – Diagnosis (HCS-D) are available online. Taking the certification exam on-line does require a proctor which is assigned by the certification candidate and approved by BMSC. For more information on the certifications available or the Individual Proctor Protocol, visit www.medicalspecialtycoding.com.

ROCKVILLE, Md.— December 1, 2006—The Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC) , formerly the Board of Advanced Medical Coding (BAMC), the premier certification body for specialty coders, announced today that it is expanding its scope by offering an additional level of certification exam for specialty coders -- the Specialty Coding Professional (SCP). Formerly, the certification body offered only the Advanced Coding Specialist (ACS) exam. The SCP is designed for coders with at least two years of specialty coding experience, while the ACS measures the expertise of a more advanced level coder. There are no certification prerequisites to taking either exam.

"We are excited to offer expanded certification opportunities to more coders with this new exam. With the addition of this new specialty certification, it became obvious that we needed to change the name of this certification body to accurately reflect the BMSC mission,” says Victoria Forlini, Executive Director of the Board of Medical Specialty Coding. "General certification is no longer enough in the marketplace. We take great pride offering two levels of specialty coding exams that will challenge coders’ expertise. The exams offered by BMSC are written by coders for coders. This fact holds much weight within the coding community.” BMSC is committed to helping coders move up the career ladder by providing certification and education opportunities to all coders. Whether coders have two years or 20 years of coding experience, BMSC is geared to helping coding professionals achieve the next step in their careers. Each of these certifications allows coders to document their coding proficiency that leads to professional growth and competency.

In early 2007, BMSC will be offering its exams online as well as the standard, office proctoring and conference options. The first live (SCP) exams will be offered at the 5th Annual Specialty Coding Extravaganza in Las Vegas, February 5-7, 2007. For more information visit www.extrav2007.com.

The BMSC name change is accompanied by an updated redesigned website www.medicalspecialtycoding.com, which includes information on the two levels of specialty, medical coding certification exams. BMSC also offers the only home health specialty coding certification, the Home Care Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D) certification exam.

ROCKVILLE, Md.— November 10, 2006—The Board of Advanced Medical Coding (BAMC), the premier certification body for specialty coders, announced today that it will expand its scope to offer two levels of certification exams for specialty coders- the Specialty Coding Professional (SCP) and Advanced Coding Specialist (ACS). BAMC is evolving into the Board of Medical Specialty Coding (BMSC). Staying true to the original mission of BAMC, the Board of Medical Specialty Coding offers professional medical coders new and unique opportunities for professional recognition and practice improvement. Certification tests are designed to incorporate the specifics of coding job responsibilities and the challenges that coders deal with in their work environment.

"We are excited to reach more coders with our certification exams under the umbrella of this name change," says Victoria Forlini, Executive Director of the Board of Medical Specialty Coding. "General certification is no longer enough in the marketplace. We take great pride offering two levels of specialty coding exams that will challenge coders’ expertise. Our exams are written by coders for coders. This fact holds much weight within the coding community.” BMSC is committed to helping coders move up the career ladder by providing certification and education opportunities to all coders. Whether coders have two years or 20 years of coding experience, BMSC is geared to helping coding professionals achieve the next step in their careers.

In early 2007, BMSC will be offering its exams online as well as the standard, office proctoring and conference options. The BMSC name change is accompanied by an updated redesigned website (www.medicalspecialtycoding.com), which includes information on the two levels of specialty medical coding certification exams. BMSC also offers the only home health specialty coding certification, the Home Care Coding Specialist-Diagnosis (HCS-D) certification exam.