The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has removed two Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS Codes) codes just days before the bid window opens. Codes E0992 and K0056 have been dropped from the standard power mobility devices product category as they are only applicable to the standard manual wheelchairs product category. Due to […]
When the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) launches Jan. 1, 2020, leveraging tools and resources to ensure compliance will be critical to a successful transition. Home health care providers already have one helpful tool in place: the electronic health record (EHR). By incorporating workflow efficiencies, alerts, customizable features and feedback reporting capabilities, EHRs can provide visibility […]
Medical coders who were unsure what documentation non-Medicare payers would expect in light of the Patients Over Paperwork Initiative now have more to go on. The initiative reduced documentation requirements for outpatient evaluation and management service codes (CPT® 99201-99215) provided to Medicare Part B patients beginning in 2021. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicated in their initiative that, although […]
Medicare Advantage Plan contracts are “take-it-or-leave-it” agreements Many questions are swirling about regarding Medicare Advantage Plan (MAP) denials asking what to do about the increasing number and given reasons. I’ve heard or read some amazing stories where payers have gone to astounding lengths to deny claims. Answers are also swirling about based on understandings of […]
Ten new HCPCS Level II codes for drugs and biologicals will be payable for Medicare, effective for claims with dates of service on or after July 1, 2019. HCPCS Level II codes is a standardized coding system that is used primarily to identify products, supplies, and services not included in the CPT code set jurisdiction, such as […]
Dive Brief CMS Administrator Seema Verma announced Thursday the agency will overhaul coding regulations that she argues have hindered beneficiary access to new medical technology. Medical device companies will now be able to apply for a new permanent Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code twice a year, instead of annually. CMS also recently eliminated […]
The FY 2020 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed changes could bode well for many facilities. There has been much discussion about the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) for fiscal year (FY) 2020 proposed rule and its suggested changes. Good news can be found in the 1,824 pages of […]
Clinical denials are a fact of life for hospitals. Providers must contend with a number of government audits conducted by several different organizations. On the private payer side, hospitals must comply with complex approval processes related to prior authorizations, admission status and medical necessity. At Becker’s Hospital Review’s 10th Annual Meeting in Chicago, R1 RCM hosted a […]
Pain management during the global period of a procedure, if related to that procedure, is not separately reportable. If a provider other than the operating provider performs follow-up care, you must be careful to avoid “unbundling” of that follow-up care. The global period, or global surgical package, bundles all care typically related to surgical service into a […]
CMS has released the inpatient psychiatric facility proposed rule. Approximately $75million is projected to be paid to inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPF), according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed 2020 inpatient prospective payment system (IPPS) released on April 19. IPF-PPS applies to inpatient services for psychiatric hospitals and distinct psychiatric units of […]