Fall Prevention
Prevent Falls and Keep Your Patients Safe
Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death.
How big is the problem?
What outcomes are linked to falls?
Falls are the leading cause of death, injury, and hospital visits by seniors. As many as 1 in 3 seniors will fall this year, and a single fall can dramatically decrease the quality of life, increase pain, cost thousands of dollars, and result in a shorter life span. Medicare has taken notice of this and is implementing physician incentives plus, under the Affordable Care Act, will begin requiring fall prevention screening and testing as part of both the initial patient checkup and annual wellness visits.
Give your patients the peace of mind that comes from the proper diagnosis of balance issues and ensure that your practice offers patients the highest standard of care, all while staying Medicare compliant. BACMAC offers the VATplus Vestibular Autorotation Test that is a simple, non-invasive test that takes less than 10 minutes and can be performed in nearly any exam room by your MA staff. The unit is portable, and enables you to provide screening and treatment to your patients anywhere, including nursing homes and long term care facilities!
Medicare and private insurances both reimburse 100% of the fees for this testing, and our convenient, easy leasing options mean that your practice can realize an excellent return on your investment and generate a substantial monthly revenue.
Health and confidence are the most valuable commodities anyone can have – VATplus fall prevention screening enables you to identify issues and then promote lifelong behavior modification techniques.
The Best Diagnostic Tool for Your Patients
Important Facts and Figures:
Medicare PQRS and What It Means to You
The Profitable Solution for Your Practice
The VATplus Test is simple to perform, mobile, compact, and offers an excellent return on investment.
How Do I Get Started?
BACMAC will work with your practice and the vendor to order the VATplus testing equipment and, if you would like to finance this equipment, AMS offers easy equipment financing solutions.
Training on Delivery
You can expect to receive your equipment within 10 business days of ordering. A specialist from Western Systems Research will come to your practice with the equipment to give you and your staff complete training on proper testing procedures. BACMAC will then assist with the ongoing optimization of this important testing device in your practice.
CPT Codes
Coding:
Fall Screening Sample Questionnaire
Offer the Follow-Up In-house
If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, your patient may suffer from vestibular dysfunction and is a candidate for the VATplus test to determine whether or not further treatment is necessary. By offering this simple screening to your patients as a standard part of every visit, your clinic will stay Medicare compliant.
BACMAC will provide you with a copy of this questionnaire to begin offering to your patients. If you find that a portion of your patient population suffers from balance issues and are at risk for falling, the VATplus testing equipment is the right choice for your practice.
Each year, millions of adults aged 65 and older fall. Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. Fortunately, falls are a public health problem that is largely preventable.
Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death.
How big is the problem?
- One out of three adults age 65 or older falls each year, but less than half talk to their healthcare providers about it.
- Among older adults, falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries.
- In 2012, 2.4 million non-fatal falls among older adults were treated in emergency departments and more than 722,000 of these patients were hospitalized.
- In 2012, the direct medical costs of falls, adjusted for inflation, was $30 billion
What outcomes are linked to falls?
- Twenty to thirty percent of people who fall suffer moderate to severe injuries such as lacerations, hip fractures, and head traumas. These injuries can make it hard to get around or live independently, and increase the risk of early death.
- Falls are the most common cause of traumatic brain injuries (TBI). In 2000, 46% of fatal falls among older adults were due to TBI.
- Most fractures among older adults are caused by falls. The most common are fractures of the spine, hip, forearm, leg, ankle, pelvis, upper arm, and hand.
- Many people who fall, even if they are not injured, develop a fear of falling. This fear may cause them to limit their activities, which leads to reduced mobility and loss of physical fitness and, in turn, increases their actual risk of falling.
Falls are the leading cause of death, injury, and hospital visits by seniors. As many as 1 in 3 seniors will fall this year, and a single fall can dramatically decrease the quality of life, increase pain, cost thousands of dollars, and result in a shorter life span. Medicare has taken notice of this and is implementing physician incentives plus, under the Affordable Care Act, will begin requiring fall prevention screening and testing as part of both the initial patient checkup and annual wellness visits.
Give your patients the peace of mind that comes from the proper diagnosis of balance issues and ensure that your practice offers patients the highest standard of care, all while staying Medicare compliant. BACMAC offers the VATplus Vestibular Autorotation Test that is a simple, non-invasive test that takes less than 10 minutes and can be performed in nearly any exam room by your MA staff. The unit is portable, and enables you to provide screening and treatment to your patients anywhere, including nursing homes and long term care facilities!
Medicare and private insurances both reimburse 100% of the fees for this testing, and our convenient, easy leasing options mean that your practice can realize an excellent return on your investment and generate a substantial monthly revenue.
Health and confidence are the most valuable commodities anyone can have – VATplus fall prevention screening enables you to identify issues and then promote lifelong behavior modification techniques.
The Best Diagnostic Tool for Your Patients
Important Facts and Figures:
- Inner ear disorders are the leading cause of falls amongst our aging population.
- 33% of all seniors will fall this year.
- Over 69 million people suffer from vestibular dysfunction, which often goes unnoticed until the first emergency or fall.
- After identifying the issue, highly-effective treatments exist for vestibular disorders.
- On average, it costs Medicare $19,440 when a senior falls. Moreover, the American Geriatric Society and Medicare report that 85% of senior falls occur as a result of some type of vestibular issue.
Medicare PQRS and What It Means to You
- Incentives for testing - Current Medicare standards offer incentives to physicians that participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Standards program. This program includes fall screening (questionnaire) and testing, if indicated.
- Penalties for non-compliance - Beginning in 2015, Medicare will penalize practices that do not include fall screening as part of the regular required visits for Medicare patients.
- VATplus meets the need - BACMAC will provide you with questionnaires that meet the standard for fall screening. If the screening indicates a patient may be at risk of falling, Medicare and all private insurances cover diagnostic testing of vestibular function.
- A healthier, longer life for patients - Should a patient be diagnosed with vestibular disorder there are number of at-home and in-office treatments that are non-invasive and have been shown to be effective at improving balance and reducing falls.
The Profitable Solution for Your Practice
The VATplus Test is simple to perform, mobile, compact, and offers an excellent return on investment.
- Offer your patients the confidence and sense of security they need with a simple, 10 minute test they can take in your convenient and comfortable clinic setting.
- Fully reimbursable insurance codes that have been tested and proven.
- Easy to navigate leasing options available.
- At a low rate of testing (4 patients a week), the equipment will pay for itself in just 6 months.
- Testing just 1 patient a day offers an additional annual revenue of over $150,000!
How Do I Get Started?
BACMAC will work with your practice and the vendor to order the VATplus testing equipment and, if you would like to finance this equipment, AMS offers easy equipment financing solutions.
Training on Delivery
You can expect to receive your equipment within 10 business days of ordering. A specialist from Western Systems Research will come to your practice with the equipment to give you and your staff complete training on proper testing procedures. BACMAC will then assist with the ongoing optimization of this important testing device in your practice.
CPT Codes
- All codes are provided and proven
- Expected reimbursements from both private insurance and Medicare
- Average reimbursement of $525 after initial testing and follow-up appointment
Coding:
- 92541: Spontaneous nystagmus test, including gaze and fixation nystagmus, with recording
- 92542: Positional nystagmus test, minimum of 4 positions, with recording
- 92543: Caloric vestibular test, each irrigation, with recording
- 92544: Optokinetic nystagmus test, bidirectional, foveal or peripheral stimulation
- 92545: Oscillating tracking test, with recording
- 92546: Sinusoidal vertical axis rotational testing
- 92547: Use of vertical electrodes (list separately in addition to code for primary procedure)
- 92548: Computerized dynamic posturography
- 92540: Basic vestibular evaluation
Fall Screening Sample Questionnaire
- Have you fallen in the past year?
- Do you feel dizzy or off balance if you make a sudden change in movement, such as bending down or quickly turning?
- Do you have any hearing loss?
- Do you require assistance to walk, such as use of a walker, wheelchair, or a person supporting you?
- Do you have balance problems when you are walking or climbing stairs?
Offer the Follow-Up In-house
If the answer to any of the questions above is yes, your patient may suffer from vestibular dysfunction and is a candidate for the VATplus test to determine whether or not further treatment is necessary. By offering this simple screening to your patients as a standard part of every visit, your clinic will stay Medicare compliant.
BACMAC will provide you with a copy of this questionnaire to begin offering to your patients. If you find that a portion of your patient population suffers from balance issues and are at risk for falling, the VATplus testing equipment is the right choice for your practice.
Each year, millions of adults aged 65 and older fall. Falls can cause moderate to severe injuries, such as hip fractures and head traumas, and can increase the risk of early death. Fortunately, falls are a public health problem that is largely preventable.
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To learn more, please call 800.240.9473 today.
