Category: Blog

professional-hospital-e-m-charge-index-continued-to-grow-in-2021

Professional, Hospital E/M Charge Index Continued to Grow in 2021

In addition to the hospital E/M charge index rising, prices for professional evaluation and management, surgery, medicine, and radiology services increased last year. The median charge index for hospital evaluation and management (E/M) visits increased by 7 percent during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a white paper from FAIR Health. The FH Medical Price Index […]
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AHA Coding Clinic Now Available

Spring brings Coding Clinic Guidance. Spring has sprung, and that brings the first American Hospital Association (AHA) Coding Clinic on ICD-10-CM/PCS issue of 2022. There are a wide range of topics and guidance. Now that we are receiving biannual coding updates, we begin April this year with some new codes, and some changes that are […]
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AHA Requests Additional COVID-19 Financial Support from Congress

During the Delta and Omicron surges, hospitals and health systems faced significant challenges, prompting AHA to ask Congress for additional COVID-19 financial support. The American Hospital Association (AHA) has urged Congress to provide hospitals and health systems with additional COVID-19 financial support, including more Provider Relief Funds and an extension on the Medicare sequester relief. […]
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Value-Based Payment Models Associated with Lower Acute Care Use

Medicare Advantage beneficiaries who received care under value-based payment models, including two-sided risk models, saw lower acute care use than beneficiaries under a fee-for-service model. Medicare Advantage beneficiaries whose primary care organization participated in a value-based payment model saw lower rates of hospitalizations, observation stays, and emergency department visits, according to a study published in […]
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Medicare Patients Received 54.5M Office Visits Via Telehealth in 2020

Office visits represented 48 percent of all telehealth services used in the first year of the pandemic, making it the service most accessed via telehealth, federal data shows. Medicare beneficiaries most often used telehealth for office visits in 2020, receiving 54.5 million virtual office visits in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to […]
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ama-urges-congress-to-update-medicare-physician-payment-system

AMA Urges Congress to Update Medicare Physician Payment System

The American Medical Association urged congressional leaders to lift the freeze on Medicare physician payments and provide updates that reflect inflation and practice costs. Following a recent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) report, the American Medical Association (AMA) has asked Congress to update the Medicare physician payment system to include a stable annual payment rate […]
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