Category: Blog

Permanent Medicare Payment Adjustment for Home Health

Permanent Payment Adjustment for Home Health

The federal agency released the Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update proposed rule for CY23, which aims to permanently adjust Medicare payment based on PDGM. CMS proposes updated Medicare payment for home health agencies CMS is looking to apply a permanent prospective payment adjustment to the home health 30-day period payment rate to account […]
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what-ai-can-and-cant-yet-do-in-payment-integrity

What AI Can and Can’t Yet Do in Payment Integrity

It’s important to be realistic about what AI can and can’t do currently. Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a buzzword in payment integrity for years. Companies are increasingly using AI and data mining to identify healthcare savings. This technology can be helpful in the right scenarios. Data versus Nuance AI, which includes technologies like machine […]
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how-telehealth-can-help-inpatient-care-and-what-hybrid-future-looks

How telehealth can help inpatient care, and what a hybrid future looks like

Healthcare provider organizations and clinicians are fortunate that telehealth has gone mainstream as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth opens up many new avenues to expand access to care, streamline the delivery of care, create new workflows and improve patient outcomes. Hopefully the Congress and state legislatures will act soon to ensure the temporary […]
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Has the Medicare Telehealth list changed Since 2022?

As Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) continues to evaluate the inclusion of telehealth services that were temporarily added to the Medicare telehealth services list during the COVID-19 public health emergency, they have finalized that certain services added to the Medicare telehealth services list will remain on the list through December 31, 2023. This […]
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Medicare, Beneficiaries Saw Higher Prices at Provider-Based Facilities

The Medicare program and Medicare beneficiaries could have saved a combined $1.6 billion if provider-based facilities charged the same payment rate as freestanding facilities, OIG found. Medicare and its beneficiaries paid significantly higher prices at provider-based facilities than they would have paid to freestanding facilities for the same services, according to a report from the […]
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2022 care management services codes to know

Question: Can you please tell us what the new codes are for principal care management and chronic care management? Answer: There are three new codes in the care management section of the CPT codebook. Care Management Services Principal Care Management Services New CPT codes have been added in 2022 to describe “Principal Care Management Services.” […]
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The Challenges of Billing Observation Correctly

Observation, outpatient outlier payments, and the Inpatient-only List: Getting it right is not always easy. On this week’s Monitor Mondays we had a robust discussion about Condition Code 44. And on June 9, I will be presenting a webinar on the nebulous concept of “outpatient” service in a bed. Both of these have one thing […]
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Why Medicare’s trustees say the physician pay system is unsustainable

Medicare’s trustees have issued a report (PDF) that reckons with the consequences that patients could face as a result of the physician payment system’s long-term unsustainability. Your Powerful Ally The AMA helps physicians build a better future for medicine, advocating in the courts and on the Hill to remove obstacles to patient care and confront […]
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The Past, Present, and Future of E&M Services

Providers are currently stuck with outdated templates, leaving plenty of room for improvement. I thought it might be appropriate to take a “four score and seven years ago” look across evaluation and management (E&M) services, looking at what we had, what we have, and what is still to come. So, to begin, I will rewind […]
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