A year since COVID-19 hit U.S. shores, the pandemic is still raging as deaths and cases strain hospital resources. Amid the scrambling, however, providers and payers are adjusting to a new normal likely to continue for months if not beyond. Though arrival of vaccines has prompted hope, the rollout has been slow and fragmented, left up to […]
The uptake of telehealth services during the COVID-19 pandemic has shone a spotlight on the use of digital technologies in healthcare. Telehealth platforms have connected patients and clinicians remotely, but telehealth’s growth has obscured a broader movement that had already been underway for some time: the use of digital health to transform care. Advances in […]
CMS has announced that it will reprocess hospital outpatient claims from last year for clinic visit services provided at excepted off-campus provider-based departments. The agency will start reprocessing the claims in July 2021 in order to pay all hospitals the same rate as non-excepted off-campus provider-based departments for clinic visit services paid under the Physician Fee Schedule, […]
One year ago, it’s doubtful that anyone could have accurately predicted the changes that would occur in healthcare in 2020. While facing the world’s greatest health crisis in living memory, we’ve seen amazing shifts in adapted care delivery and a surge in “telemedicine,” as well as implementation, regulation, coding, and payment adjustments established at great […]
Healthcare providers face two new rules certain to complicate a busy year already dominated by the pandemic. The nation’s capital is facing a tremendous number of complex issues this week. Amid all this, legislative activity on two healthcare policy initiatives has advanced in the past few weeks – and those two initiatives will add […]
Now that Joe Biden has been inaugurated, the President is looking to act quickly on a $1.9T COVID-19 relief plan that will significantly impact hospitals and other providers. Soon after the crowds disperse from the Capitol on Jan. 20, 2021, newly minted President Joe Biden will be working to enact a roughly $1.9 trillion COVID-19 […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has finalized a number of proposals in its rule governing the Affordable Care Act (ACA) exchanges in 2022, including lower user fees. In the final rule, the CMS set user fees for qualified health plans at 2.25% of the premium, down from 3%. The agency said […]
More than 80% of survey respondents stated that they have confidence in their organization’s ability to “rapidly adjust their plans and strategies.” Healthcare finance leaders are more optimistic about the ability to adjust to a changing business environment and utilize quality data in the decision-making process, according to the 2021 Healthcare Financial Trends Survey report released […]
Medicare beneficiaries now have immediate access to innovative medical technology approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), rather than having to wait for it to clear additional bureaucratic hurdles before coverage is approved. The Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) final rule issued this week eliminates the time and cost innovators were formerly […]
CMS has updated Medicare Physician Fee Schedule rates for 2021 after a COVID-19 stimulus package mitigated budget neutrality cuts finalized in a December rule. The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 passed by Congress on Dec. 21, 2020, enacted a 3.75 percent increase in Physician Fee Schedule payments for all providers in 2021 to “support physicians and other professionals in adjusting […]