IMN Focuses on Evidence-Based Care
to Support Consumer-Driven Health Plans
MANCHESTER-BY-THE-SEA, MA, May 23,
2004. Integrative Medicine Networks (IMN), a national preferred provider
organization (PPO) of integrative healthcare practitioners, today announced its
decision to base its actuarial studies, network management practices and
insurance claims processing on ABC codes, a set of next generation health
insurance codes that help identify and advance the nation’s most cost-effective
care.
IMN blends the art and science of
caring for the whole person: mind, body and spirit. The PPO is open to
qualified conventional and alternative caregivers, including allopathic medical
doctors, osteopathic physicians, chiropractors, acupuncturists, massage
therapists, naturopathic doctors and other allied and integrative health
practitioners. IMN provides tools and training that help participating
providers document care, more effectively manage their practices and secure
insurance reimbursement using ABC codes in conjunction with older medical sets,
such as CPT and HCPCS II. IMN implemented ABC codes to ensure more complete,
accurate and precise information on the nature of delivered care could be
digitized, electronically processed and analyzed to identify and support
payment for best practices.
“ABC codes ensure practitioners gain
appropriate reimbursement under consumer-driven health plans,” Richard Furber,
Chairman of IMN. “The codes also help consumers, unions, employers, payors and
policymakers understand what really works, to support better personal
healthcare and health policy decisions.”
“ABC codes work with older code sets to
help all health industry stakeholders gain the greatest possible value for
their healthcare dollars,” explains Synthia Molina, CEO of Alternative Link,
the developers of ABC codes. “The codes are supported by relative value units,
practitioner identifiers and legal practice guidelines, so that caregivers can
establish defensible fees for services, deliver care within their legal scopes
of practice and comply with fraud and abuse regulations that require accurate
documentation of patient encounters.”
Alternative Link’s ABC codes were
developed to support consumer choice and improve healthcare accessibility,
quality and cost-management. The codes fill gaps in older medical and dental
coding systems and the national health information infrastructure (NHII). They
are issued in an impartial manner, similar to the way universal product codes
(UPCs or bar codes) are issued in the retail industry, to better support
research, management and commerce. “ABC codes work with older code sets to help
all health industry stakeholders gain the greatest possible value for their
healthcare dollars,” explains Synthia Molina, CEO of Alternative Link, the
developers of ABC codes. “The codes are supported by relative value units,
practitioner identifiers and legal practice guidelines, so that caregivers can
establish defensible fees for services, deliver care within their legal scopes
of practice and comply with fraud and abuse regulations that require accurate
documentation of patient encounters.”
ABC codes fit in the same forms, data
fields, software applications, information systems and business processes as
older code sets and are authorized under the Code of Federal Regulations, Title
45, Section 162.940, as compliant with the Health Insurance Portability and
Accountability Act (HIPAA).
IMN Integrative Medicine Networks is a
national PPO for Integrative Medicine which provides practice management
solutions that helps CAM (Complementary and Alternative Medicine) practitioners
effectively treat the whole person –body, mind, and spirit-- through access to
“Evidence-Based Protocols” research while advocating ethical insurance
reimbursement for procedures within the legal scope of their respective
practice, modality, or health specialty. For more information, visit
www.IntegrativeMedicineNetworks.com or call 978-526-9969.
