Tag: Healthcare Reform

3 Key Strategies to Increase Healthcare Revenue Cycle Efficiency

As providers engage in complex payment models and collect more from patients, they must learn to automate key functions to improve healthcare revenue efficiency. The healthcare revenue cycle has many moving parts. From patient access and registration to medical billing and coding, provider organizations of all sizes must achieve revenue cycle efficiency to ensure providers […]
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Preparing Providers For Value-Based Care, Consumerism In Healthcare

Technology can transform data into actionable insights for providers needing to meet the demands of value-based care and consumerism in healthcare. Transforming raw data into actionable information is crucial to the financial future of provider organizations, especially as pressure builds on providers to align their care delivery approach with value-based care and consumerism in healthcare. […]
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Federal Policy to End Surprise Billing: Building on Prior Approaches

Ending surprise medical bills has risen to a national priority with bipartisan political interest. In January, President Donald Trump directed Cabinet officials to find a solution, and multiple congressional bills were proposed in the last Congress with the same goal. Surprise medical bills consist of unanticipated charges from out-of-network clinicians—often when the facility or primary physician is […]
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Coding “Separate Procedures:” What Coders Need to Know

“Separate procedure” may not mean what you think. Many procedural codes in the CPT® Book are designated as “separate procedures.” However, the common misinterpretation of this is that coders can report such codes as such in every case. Not true. First, you must consider: Were there other procedures performed during the same encounter? Did you consult […]
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To Increase Patient Satisfaction, Providers Need to Start Talking About Costs: Survey

Even as health systems confront rising healthcare costs and declining margins, they are under pressure to improve the patient experience, retain customer loyalty and collect patient payments. But while two-thirds of patients said cost strongly influences their overall satisfaction with their hospital or physician, nearly 60% of health systems do not discuss costs with patients, […]
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MACRA Readiness for Healthcare Organizations

Without even putting too much effort into listening to or reading the news, you understand that healthcare costs have steadily risen over the last couple decades, and yet we don’t really have any significant and correlating rise in outcomes to show for it.  CMS or the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has also noticed […]
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Chronic Conditions: Code or Not to Code MCCs

Understanding the correct use of chronic condition codes in the coding process. Unexpected and inaccurate medical bills can be alarming and shocking. Coders are often confused regarding when they should code co-morbid chronic conditions and when they should not. This leads to inaccurate coding of levels, or sometimes missing out on the opportunity of stressing […]
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How to Avoid and Correct Inaccurate Medical Bills

Unexpected and inaccurate medical bills can be alarming and shocking. Whether it’s hundreds or tens of thousands of dollars, when you get a bill for an ER visit or surgery you already paid or don’t owe, it can sometimes be difficult to get answers from the provider or insurance company. All this week KPRC2 consumer […]
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Why Hospitals Without Robust Revenue Cycle Support are Losing Millions?

A frequent knock on electronic health records (EHRs) has been that they’re just glorified billing systems that fail to provide enough clinical functionality to make a significant difference in the quality of care. So it’s somewhat incongruous that a recent Black Book report on revenue cycle management (RCM) system adoption would say that 26 percent of hospitals don’t have an effective […]
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Are Chargemasters Making Medical Billing More Transparent?

When it comes to a trip to the hospital we all know costs can add up quickly, but do you really know exactly what you’re paying for? Well, since January 1, a federal regulation has required hospitals to post machine-readable documents detailing everything they charge for called chargemasters. Though a debate has been raised into […]
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