On December 27, 2020, the No Surprises Act was signed into law as part of the Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021. In July and October 2021, respectively, the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, the Department of the Treasury and the Office of Personnel Management (the Departments) issued two Interim Final […]
Hospitals across the nation are seeing lower profits, and it’s all because of a sudden tsunami of Medicare and Medicaid provider audits. Whether it be by Recovery Audit Contractor (RACs), Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs), Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs), or otherwise, hospital audits are rampant. Billing errors, especially “supposed bundling,” are causing a high rate […]
Payers, providers, and members can all benefit from transforming the manual and patchwork claims payment process to a digital environment that also automates claims data delivery. Payers, providers, and members are all central to the healthcare experience, working together to create a seamless, coordinated encounter from registration and the clinical visit to claims payment and […]
More than a third of Representatives call on the federal government to revise No Surprises Act implementation, specifically around the independent dispute resolution process. A bipartisan group of 152 House members wrote to the secretaries of Health and Human Services, Treasury and Labor and urged them to amend the interim final rule (IFR) that will […]
Caitlin Wells Salerno knew that some mammals — like the golden-mantled ground squirrels she studies in the Rocky Mountains — invest an insane amount of resources in their young. That didn’t prepare her for the resources the conservation biologist would owe after the birth of her second son. Wells Salerno went into labor on the […]
AMA updated the CPT code set to accommodate the new mix-and-match COVID-19 vaccine booster strategy endorsed by the federal government. The update comes on the heels of a decision from the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) to authorize booster doses of Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine. The federal agency has recommended a booster dose of the vaccine for […]
‘If you can get it right up front, you’re ensuring accuracy, preventing rework, and preventing denials,’ says Alicia Auman, director of patient access at KSB Hospital. Patient access plays a tremendously important role within the revenue cycle, which is why Alicia Auman, director of patient access at KSB Hospital in Dixon, Illinois, has worked so […]
Surprise billing occurs when patients receive care from out-of-network providers without their knowledge. On July 1, the Biden Administration passed an interim final rule: the first portion of the “Requirements Related to the Surprise Billing Act,” in an attempt to curb excessive costs patients are required to pay in relation to surprise billing. The rule […]
The American Medical Association’s (AMA’s) CPT® Editorial Panel has released eight new COVID-19-related codes to report a new formulation of the Pfizer vaccine, a Moderna booster vaccine, and a Pfizer booster using either the new or old formulation. These codes are in addition to the four new CPT codes released last month and the many […]
Hospitals and health systems are exploring ways to revenue cycle transformation processes to offset financial pressures. However, shifting to a new business model for revenue cycle management can be challenging. The hospital revenue cycle has become increasingly complex in recent years for several reasons, including the shift away from fee-for-service medicine, the adoption of advanced […]