You Have COVID-19 Questions, We Have Answers

During the Talk Ten Tuesdays weekly Internet radio broadcast last week, we received many questions which we never got to answer. I am going to share some of those answers…

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CMS Final Price Transparency Rule: Take Heed in 2020

The new rule contains two key requirements—annual disclosure of prices and 300 “shoppable” items. Effective Jan. 1, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) required that hospitals publish…

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E&M Changes: How Will They Affect Your Practice?

More changes are likely coming. As many of you have heard, there are major changes coming to evaluation and management (E&M) codes in 2021. The changes were finalized in the…

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Underutilization of ICD-10-CM Z Codes for Medicare Beneficiaries

CMS report is based on 2016-2017 data. It’s been two years since the American Hospital Association (AHA) shouted from the rooftops that documentation by any interprofessional team would be accepted…

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More New Rules from CMS for FY 2020

Among the proposed new rules is one intended to clarify the contentious “Stark Law.” On Oct. 9, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule to…

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Hospitals Likely to Face Discharge Difficulties from CMS Policy

Discharge Planning Conditions of Participation guidance from CMS is being seen as unhelpful. As hospitals prepare to implement the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Discharge Planning Conditions of…

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MPFS Final Rule Released

CMS clearly is honing-in on reducing administrative burden as changes go into effect. On Friday, Nov. 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the Medicare Physician Fee…

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4 CMS payment model updates

Becker's Hospital Review reported on the following payment model updates from CMS or HHS in October: 1. CMS is now taking applications for kidney care payment models. Participation in the…

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E/M coding changes

A “bold proposal” to reduce the documentation burden on physicians was released as part of CMS’s 2019 proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS). This seemed to have begun as an…

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Looming medical billing and coding changes in healthcare policy

A change in government payment policy for dermatologists and other physicians in selecting office coding and billing for evaluation and management (E/M) is scheduled to begin January 2021. “The Centers…

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Hospitals support medical billing changes, opioid payments

Hospitals support the CMS' proposed changes to medical billing coding and new payments for opioid treatment programs, but they're worried that changes to quality measures could hurt providers. Major medical…

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CMS Rolls Out New Powers to Target Healthcare Fraud

The announcement is all but ensured to trouble providers already concerned about overreach. Federal healthcare oversight authorities have announced that they are expanding their “revocation and denial authorities” in an…

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