The secret to ensuring both proper payment and compliance is in the details. Why is mental health coding so complex? Laurie Bouzarelos, MHA, CPC, asked and answered that question in her presentation “Coding and Billing for Psychiatry and Outpatient Mental Health Providers” at AAPC’s virtual HEALTHCON 2022, March 27-30. Bouzarelos manages to take much of […]
The bill would aim to standardize processes and require greater oversight on Medicare Advantage plans’ utilization and denial of prior authorizations. Better Medicare Alliance (BMA) has endorsed HR 3173, the Improving Seniors’ Timely Access to Care Act, a law that seeks to reform prior authorization in Medicare Advantage. “When it comes to the use of […]
The organization recommended CMS update the independent dispute resolution portal to improve communication between disputing parties and adjust the form field requirements. The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) has asked CMS to update the federal independent dispute resolution (IDR) portal to streamline the arbitration process for determining an out-of-network payment rate for a surprise medical […]
The No Surprises Act came into effect in December 2021, potentially averting countless instances of unexpected billing claims within its initial two months of implementation. By May 24, 2022, the No Surprises Act had already thwarted over two million cases of surprise billing claims during its initial two-month span, as per a survey conducted by […]
After appealing the courts’ ruling on vacating a piece of arbitration within the No Surprises Act, HHS asks the court for a hold on its plea. HHS recently requested for a hold on its appeal of a Texas federal court ruling vacating parts of the independent dispute resolution (IDR) process in the surprise billing interim […]
A report by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) raises concerns about organizations prioritizing profits over patient access to care. Medicare Advantage organizations (MAOs) often delay or deny services for medically necessary care, even when prior authorization requests meet coverage rules, according to a report by the OIG. A concern with the Medicare Advantage […]
For primary care practices, earning enough revenue to meet overhead expenses and provide quality care has always been a challenge. But practices often make the challenge even greater through sloppy coding and billing, leading to delayed or incorrect reimbursements from payers. To see the entire video presentation, go here. INTRODUCTION For primary care practices, earning […]
In the last six months, several payers, providers and revenue cycle vendors began warning patients about data breaches that affected medical billing information. Here is a breakdown of seven instances: Adaptive Health Integrations, a company providing healthcare billing services, suffered a breach in October that exposed 510,574 individuals’ data. The incident is the third-largest […]
CMS released its annual Inpatient Prospective Payment System proposed rule April 18, which proposes a reimbursement boost for acute care hospitals. Here are 10 things to know about the 1,786-page proposed rule: Payment rate update. Under the proposed rule, acute care hospitals that report quality data and are meaningful users of EHRs will see a […]
The act seeks to reduce surprise billing through independent dispute resolution and incentives for providers to join health plan networks. The No Surprises Act used a couple of methods to reduce surprise billing, though the need for some modifications may remain, according to a resource from AHIP. “The real problem of surprise medical bills tended […]