October 2018

Hot Topics

October Is National Depression Education and Awareness Month

BCBSTX would like to bring an awareness of resources that may help you in treating patient depression. As you know, depression can have a significant impact on a patient’s overall health, and it is often diagnosed and initially treated in a primary care setting. The article Depression Is on the Rise and Linked to Other Chronic Conditions describes how apathy can affect how a patient follows through with prescribed care. Texas Health and Human Services’ (HHSC) website – mentalhealthtx.org – provides resources, training, educational materials and community offerings that may help your patients. And don’t forget the additional resources Magellan^® offers in the Behavioral Health Toolkit for Medical Providers.

How to Keep the Cash Flowing: Billing BCBSTX Medicaid as a Secondary Insurance

Learn the ins and outs of billing BCBSTX as a secondary payer for Medicaid claims. To keep the cash flowing, it’s important to remember that if a commercial payer exists, then Medicaid is always the payer of last resort.

Synagis Season and Formulary Update

As a reminder, the period for prophylaxis in the Travis and Central Texas service areas is from Oct. 15, 2018, to March 15, 2019. Make sure you’re prepared and be sure to review the newly updated Synagis formulary.

Reducing Avoidable Emergency Department (ED) Visits

Preventable ED visits needlessly diminish resources and increase costs for patients, providers and payers. Learn what you can do to reduce avoidable ED visits.

Get Certified to Provide Fluoride Varnish to Children

Learn how to get certified to provide fluoride varnish to your youngest patient’s teeth. This one procedure combats the chronic childhood disease: early childhood caries. Certification classes are free, and once certified, providers can receive reimbursement for oral evaluation and fluoride varnish.

Electronic Visit Verification (EVV) – HHSC Notifications

The Texas HHSC has released two notices about EVV that you need to be aware of:

• Notice of Billing Policy Changes to Providers Required to Use EVV
• EVV Providers Transitioning to DataLogic

As a reminder, all EVV updates can be found in the Education & Reference section of BCBSTX’s Medicaid provider site.

New CDC Resources: Back to School Without E-cigarettes

In 2015, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that 31 percent of U.S. high school students said they were currently using tobacco products. The CDC’s Office on Smoking and Health has created a guide of e-cigarette resources for clinicians, parents and teachers in conjunction with the “Back-to-School” season. The CDC’s new content provides up-to-date information about the health risks of e-cigarettes, including new, high-nicotine e-cigarette devices, such as JUUL.

Health Tips to Share

Help your patients live a healthier life by sharing relevant wellness information with them. You can print individual articles, or point your patients to the websites so they can review topics that interest them. Anyone can access the websites; no login required.

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