The healthcare revenue cycle has become even more complex in recent years for several reasons, including increased patient financial responsibility, more complicated payer contracts and greater regulatory demands. As a result, providers across the nation have been forced to change their approaches to revenue cycle modernization. Despite attempts to modernize the revenue cycle to meet […]
Using a per-person adjustment for Medicaid payments to hospitals would address social determinants of health and help hospitals fund more comprehensive care, experts say. Adjusting Medicaid payments for social determinants of health would help address the broader social needs of children and cost restraints at safety-net hospitals, according to researchers from the Northwestern University Feinberg School of […]
Hospital and health system executives should monitor these proposals for provisions that will affect their organizations’ operations. The 2020 annual rule cycle has been active for CMS. Several proposals in the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) proposed rule is controversial, although there is at least one provider-friendly change. Here’s a roundup of five regulatory rules […]
Patients prefer online scheduling to talking on the phone, a new report shows. Patients would rather make their healthcare appointments online without speaking to anyone, a new report reveals. However, the report doesn’t address how such a model might impact revenue cycles that want to do pre-service insurance verification and collections. The report, from the […]
Most healthcare organizations partner with physician services groups for niche coverage. While outsourced medical services are available across all specialties, common areas for external physician support include anesthesia, radiology, wound care, and emergency medicine. However, when outsourced physician services are used, challenges to ensure accurate reimbursement for both components of care—the hospital portion and the […]
EDITOR’S NOTE: Five Looking at Ten is a month-long series on ICD10monitor and Talk Ten Tuesdays that examines lessons learned since the nation’s healthcare system adopted ICD-10 transition – many of which are expected to come into play with the looming transition to ICD-11. George Vancore of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida appeared as […]
As soon as your medical practice sends a claim to the payer, you will only be counting down the days until you receive the actual payment. Of course, it is a must to ensure that you receive the payment as soon as possible since delays will eventually cost your business. What increases your payment turnaround […]
A comprehensive hospital claim validation strategy that prevents denials and improves efficiencies hinges on the right blend of retrospective and pre-bill reviews. The time to strengthen hospital compliance programs through claim validation is now. According to healthcare finance and information management leaders surveyed by HIMSS Media, clinical documentation and coding were the revenue cycle processes most vulnerable […]
Effective revenue cycle management can reduce hospice claim denials, particularly those associated with billing or documentation errors. In addition to slowing down payments or losing revenue, submitting inadequate or incomplete required written documentation is a sure-fire way to bring surveyors or auditors to a hospice’s doorstep. As regulators increasingly fix their eyes on the hospice space, providers […]
A 2016 study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that for every hour physicians spend in direct face-to-face clinical time with patients, they spend nearly two additional hours on desk work. According to the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), this administrative burden is one of the primary complaints of its members, and prior authorizations top the list of […]