ACOs and hospital-based providers will be most impacted by upcoming changes to quality scoring under full MACRA implementation, but with some work, they also have a lot to gain. With the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA), CMS did away with the Sustainable Growth Rate model. Now, they are able to reward […]
As we near the fourth quarter of 2020, HBI has begun to receive an influx of questions from revenue cycle leaders who want to know what others are doing to comply with the CMS price transparency rule going into effect January 1, 2021. There are two overarching requirements hospitals will need to comply with: Publicizing […]
Virtual visits are going to be a larger part of health care moving forward and doctors need to embrace it to succeed. The pandemic brought telehealth into the mainstream for many physicians and patients. Usage rates have declined from highs in April, but experts say that telehealth will play a much bigger role in health […]
A new analysis uncovers hospital projections over the next 12 months, including plans for revenue cycle IT budgets and payer mix changes. More hospitals and health systems are planning to decrease revenue cycle IT budgets over the next 12 months, as leaders manage payer mix and other changes post-pandemic, according to a new analysis. Provider […]
Even though virtual healthcare has been possible for over a decade, the technology officially became an integral part of the care process as a direct result of COVID-19. Telemedicine can offer on-demand medical attention to patients anytime and anywhere, but it’s essential for virtual care to be easily accessible to anyone who needs it. True […]
The Trump administration has finalized a rule aimed at boosting access to home dialysis and translation for patients with end-stage renal disease. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services estimates that the End-Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices Model will save Medicare $23 million over the next five years. The value-based model is designed to incentivize providers to […]
Practices have been creative during COVID-19 to ensure safe patient access: Telephone visits. Curbside immunizations. Drive-up virus testing. Even checking patients in for their in-office visits while they wait in the car. However, each of these scenarios poses one significant challenge: Collecting copayments and coinsurance. “With COVID-19, you’ve got to find ways to meaningfully engage […]
Doctors looking to earn more under Medicare’s Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) would likely benefit from working in a practice affiliated with a hospital system. A recently-published study in JAMA finds that doctors in system-affiliated practices earned substantially higher MIPS scores in 2019 than those in independent practice, and were thus more likely to receive upward payment adjustments and […]
Clinicians who served more patients with social risk factors such as low income performed worse in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System’s inaugural payment year, and therefore, received unfavorable value-based reimbursement, according to a new study. The study recently published in Health Affairs found that out of 510,020 clinicians participating in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) in […]
In the latest Healthcare Strategies podcast, a healthcare lawyer explores hospital price transparency rule compliance and different strategies for solving the healthcare cost problem for patients. A global pandemic may not be enough to stop one of CMS’ more controversial rules from taking effect in just a couple of months. On January 1, 2021, […]