Tag: COVID-19 pandemic

2021 MIPS Updates

Final Rule Updates MIPS for 2021 and Beyond

  CMS continues to phase in the Quality Payment Program while MACRA mandates loom. The long-awaited Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) final rule, now pending publication in the Federal Register, finalizes proposed updates to the Quality Payment Program (QPP) and its two tracks — the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and Advanced Alternate Payment Models (APMs) — for performance […]
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MPFS Telehealth Rule

CMS Finalizes 2021 Physician Fee Schedule, Including E/M Changes

After some delay due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CMS has released the final rule for the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The final rule unveiled by CMS yesterday evening will dictate how much Medicare physicians get paid for delivering care starting January 1, 2021. In the rule, CMS finalized a conversion factor of $32.41, which is a […]
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2021 Medicare Payment Changes

Physician Groups Say Changes to Medicare Payment are Key for Primary Care

  The American College of Physicians (ACP) and other physician groups have written a letter to congressional leaders urging the implementation of essential changes to Medicare payments set to take effect Jan. 1. According to a news release, the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2021 includes changes to Medicare payments for office visits and related evaluation […]
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AI in COVID19 Pandemic

How AI is Solving Big Challenges During COVID-19

Artificial intelligence is changing the way we think about healthcare during the COVID-19 pandemic, opening our eyes to new opportunities to use machine learning to draw useful conclusions faster. Before COVID-19, one of the biggest challenges healthcare organizations faced was how to accelerate and scale their application of AI—clinically and operationally. Now, the use cases […]
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Medicare Beneficiaries for COVID Antibody Treatment

CMS Approves Coverage of COVID Antibody Treatment for Medicare Beneficiaries

New COVID cases reported daily have more than doubled during recent weeks, since a more modest July surge. As the nation’s COVID-19 pandemic continues to spiral out of control, federal authorities are racing to find ways to mitigate the spread. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week that Medicare beneficiaries will […]
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Telehealth Advancements

American Medical Association Passes Pro-Telehealth Resolution

American Medical Association delegates adopted a policy this week directing the organization to keep working to support telehealth advancements during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. The American Medical Association this week resolved to continue advocating for telehealth after the COVID-19 pandemic, particularly among underserved communities. After physicians and medical students gathered virtually for five days, […]
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Automation in Prior Authorization

Industry Voices – Advancing Automation for Prior Authorization

If there’s one thing healthcare providers can agree on, it’s that prior authorization management is a heavy administrative burden and only growing heavier. Decades ago, it was created to ensure care standards continuity, improve safety and regulate costs but has become an unwieldy process filled with manual tasks and roadblocks that dilute the original intent. […]
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Health Systems Innovation

5 Ways Health Systems Can ‘Advance To The New Normal’

  The COVID-19 pandemic created the opportunity for hospitals and health systems to innovate in a short amount of time. Learning how to advance and scale those opportunities will be the key to redesigning the health system of the future, said CommonSpirit Health Senior Vice President and Chief Strategic Innovation Officer Rich Roth, and CommonSpirit […]
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Medicare Reimbursement rate for COVID-19 Testing

CMS Reduces Medicare Reimbursement Rate for Some COVID-19 Tests

The base Medicare reimbursement rate for COVID-19 tests using high throughput technology will decrease to $75 next year unless labs can process results in 2 days or less. CMS will reduce the base Medicare reimbursement rate for COVID-19 tests done by laboratories using high throughput technology, according to a new announcement. The announcement made late last […]
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