Medicare payments for the top 10 current procedural terminology codes performed by ASCs are expected to remain relatively stable in 2019 compared to 2018, according to VMG Health. 66984: Cataract surgery with insertion of intraocular lens prosthesis (one-stage procedure), manual or mechanical technique Estimated 2017 payments: $1,172 Estimated 2018 payments: $1,206 Estimated 2019 payments: $1,182 45380: […]
Clinical denials are a fact of life for hospitals. Providers must contend with a number of government audits conducted by several different organizations. On the private payer side, hospitals must comply with complex approval processes related to prior authorizations, admission status and medical necessity. At Becker’s Hospital Review’s 10th Annual Meeting in Chicago, R1 RCM hosted a […]
Don’t Count on The EHR For Billing Codes Electronic health records have a function, which practices can turn on or off, that suggests level of service codes based on documentation. But that’s only part of what goes into proper coding. It’s difficult for an EHR to determine the impact of things like risk, according to […]
To remain fiscally viable, hospitals and health systems must ensure reimbursement is collected properly and in a timely fashion. Healthcare’s “perfect storm” — the ever-increasing cost of care paired with the complexity of technology and rising expenses — has intensified this pressure, according to David Millen, vice president of information technology and digital transformation at […]
The accelerating challenge around patient needs’ calls for new technology and automation, but on a personal level. As hospitals turn to technology to overhaul the patient experience and improve profits, a range of vendors are bringing new products and outsourced services to meet that demand with artificial intelligence, data analytics and natural language processing as […]
The global medical billing outsourcing market is poised to expand for years to come as medical practices face challenges related to multiple payers and medical code representation, and large practices consolidate, according to a new report by Grand View Research. Five billing trends, based on the report: The global medical billing outsourcing market is projected to reach […]
Pain management during the global period of a procedure, if related to that procedure, is not separately reportable. If a provider other than the operating provider performs follow-up care, you must be careful to avoid “unbundling” of that follow-up care. The global period, or global surgical package, bundles all care typically related to surgical service into a […]
CMS has released the inpatient psychiatric facility proposed rule. Approximately $75million is projected to be paid to inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed 2020 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) released on April 19. IPF-PPS applies to inpatient services for psychiatric hospitals and distinct psychiatric units of […]
Recently proposed rules would boost FY 2020 Medicare payment rates for several post-acute providers, including skilled nursing facilities and hospices. April showers bring May flowers. But, this year, they are also bringing a slew of new Medicare payment rate proposals, including reimbursement and quality reporting updates for several types of post-acute care providers. CMS recently […]
This year’s reporting for the Quality Payment Program will affect the 2021 payment year. Kevin J. Corcoran, COE, CPC, CPMA, FNAO, delivered his annual update at Hawaiian Eye 2019, highlighting changes CMS would be making this year for coding, payment issues, regulatory matters, administrative issues and reimbursement issues. The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule did not […]