The Medical Massage Office Manual for Insurance Billing, 4th Edition

Brand New 4th Edition for 2005/2006....More Info Than Ever!


We have worked hard to make this the foremost working manual on insurance billing for medical massage therapists. We detail all the information you'll need to know in dealing with the insurance companies and we've updated the insurance rules that massage therapists need to follow. We'll show you how to keep your claims from getting bottlenecked in the reimbursement process.

The latest edition includes revised insurance verifcation forms and new tools, such as our step-by-step comfort script, which will help you acquire all the information you need from insurance companies. We have also included a sequenced tutorial for completing your HCFA-1500 claim forms, as well as completed claim samples.

Hard copies of all the necessary forms are in the Appendix, and a CD containing these forms as Microsoft Word documents is included with the manual -- add your letterhead or modify the forms any way you wish!



In short, our Manual provides all the facts, rules, regulations, standards, parameters, and guidelines for practicing medical massage. You don't need to reinvent the wheel! We'll save you time and money by helping you set up your office efficiently, minimizing the information-gathering and signature-obtaining tasks that are associated with billing insurance. Develop your professional integrity, make losses and denials a thing of the past, and remain legally protected!

By purchasing The Medical Massage Office Manual for Insurance Billing you have taken the first step. So continue, read, call us, and we'll help you realize growth beyond your highest expectations!

All for just $59.95 plus Shipping and Handling.


The Medical Massage Office Manual for Insurance Billing: Table of Contents


  • Chapter 1: The History and Direction of Medical Massage
    • Getting Started
    • The Recent History of Massage Therapy
    • How Medical Massage Came Into Being
    • Challenges in the Medical Massage Industry
    • Promoting Ethical Practice In Our Industry
    • An Overview of Qualifications for Practicing Medical Massage
    • Medical Massage National Certification Requirements
    • Interest in Medical Massage by the National Institutes of Health, the American Medical Association, and Leading Medical Schools
    • The Rewards of State Licensure
    • Medical Language for Massage
    • Medical Massage Code of Ethics
    • Summary of Chapter 1
  • Chapter 2: Medical Insurance Systems
    • The Mainstreaming of Medical Massage
    • The 5 Types of Healthcare Insurance
    • The Liability of Auto and Job Injury Insurance to pay for Medically Necessary Treatment
    • Auto Insurance Coverage
    • The Heirarchy of Automobile Accident Coverage
    • Job Injury Insurance
    • Determination of Maximum Medical Improvement by an Independant Medical Examiner
    • Managed Care Organizations
    • The Marketing of Managed Care to Massage Therapists
    • Major Medical and Indemnity Insurances
    • Federal Insurance Plans
    • How the United States Medical Massage Association Encourages Insurers to Pay
    • Collecting Patient Balances and Writing Off Bad Debt
    • Summary of Chapter 2
  • Chapter 3: Verification of Insurance Benefits
    • Why Verify
    • The Verification Process
    • Creating a Referral Network via the Verification Process
    • Summary of Chapter 3
  • Chapter 4: Completing the HCFA-1500 Insurance Claim Form
    • HCFA-1500 Claim Forms versus Superbills
    • Electronic Billing
    • Avoiding Insurance Processing Problems
    • Line-by-line completion of the HCFA-1500
    • Summary of Chapter 4
  • Chapter 5: Claim Submission and Follow-Up
    • Filing Claims and Attachments
    • Timely Bill Submission and Payment
    • Extension of Filing Time in Some States
    • The Two Simple Steps that Eliminate Follow-Up
    • The Endless Steps if you do not follow the Two Simple Steps
    • Summary of Chapter 5
  • Chapter 6: Documentation Using S.O.A.P. Protocol
    • Types of Documentation
    • The Purpose of Documentation
    • Medical Protocol
    • Improper Documentation
    • The Office Notes Form
    • Narratives and Clinical Vignettes
    • The S.O.A.P Format, Our Medical Language Base, and Finished Reports
    • Summary of Chapter 6
  • Chapter 7: Insurance Rules, The Federal HIPAA Law, and Other Legal Guidelines
    • Rules based on Regulations, Standards, and Parameters
    • The Health Information Privacy and Accountability Act (HIPAA)
    • State and Local Laws
    • Licensing States
    • Non-Licensing States
    • The Most Likely Trigger of Litigation of a Case
    • Depositions and Court Appearances
    • Prescription Issues and the Letter of Medical Necessity
    • Documents Requiring Patient Signature
    • Summary of Chapter 7
  • Chapter 8: Employer/Employee and Independent Contractor Relationships
    • Working as an Employee
    • Working as an Independent Contractor
    • Summary of Chapter 8
  • Chapter 9: Scope of Practice and Recognition of Competency by Insurers
    • The Meaning of Scope of Practice
    • Diversity of Scope of Practice Among States
    • Competency
    • Make No Bones (or Joints) About It
    • Diagnosing and Prescribing Without a License
    • Summary of Chapter 9
  • Chapter 10: Coding for Physical Medicine Procedures (CPT Codes)
    • The Four Categories of Codes Needed for Claim Forms
    • General Information Regarding CPT Procedure Codes
    • An Introduction to CPT Therapeutic Procedure Codes MMTs Commonly Use
    • The Rest of the Story on Concurrent Care
    • Code Restrictions Regarding Over-Utilization
    • Use of Modalities by Medical Massage Therapists
    • Proper Interpretation of the Code Descriptions
    • CPT Procedure Code Descriptions
    • Physical Therapists Expanded Descriptions of Code Use
    • Summary of Chapter 10
  • Chapter 11: Evaluation and Management Coding for Initial and Interim Reports
    • Proper Orthopedic Evaluation
    • Reporting Your Assessments
    • Evaluation (Orthopedic Assessment) Coding
    • Summary of Chapter 11
  • Chapter 12: Special Services and Reports
    • By Special Request Only
    • Special Services and Reports CPT Codes
    • Miscellaneous Services
    • The CPT Code to Charge Insurance for No-Show
    • Summary of Chapter 12
  • Chapter 13: Diagnosis, Type of Service, and Place of Service Codes
    • ICD-9-CM Diagnosis Codes
    • Diagnoses that Commonly Call for Medical Massage
    • CPT Code Modifiers
    • Type of Service Codes
    • Place of Service Codes
    • Summary of Chapter 13
  • Chapter 14: Usual and Customary Charges
    • What Usual and Customary Charges Represent
    • The Significant Impact of Improper Charging
    • The Expectation of Accountability for Efficacy in Healthcare
    • "Good Cause" for Pricing Differentials
    • Price Discrimination
    • How Usual and Customary Works Within the Free Market System
    • Using National Fee Averages
    • Posting Your Prices
    • Summary of Chapter 14
  • Learning Objective 15: Marketing
    • Making Your Dreams Come True
    • Phase 1: The Level One Medical Massage Therapist
    • Phase 2: The Level Two Medical Massage Therapist
    • Phase 3: Duplicating Yourself
    • Phase 4: Becoming a Medical Director of a Clinic Marketing Strategies
    • Summary of Chapter 15
  • Learning Objective 16: Using the Forms
    • The Forms Defined
  • Learing Objective 17: Setting Up Your Office System
    • Step-by-step Instructions
    • Files, Ledgers, and Ticklers
    • Summary of Chapter 17
  • Key to the Forms on Disk
  • Hard Copies of the Forms
  • Glossary
  • Other Offerings from TMMO
  • Sample HCFA-1500 Forms