Month: July 2020

New HHS COVID-19 Reporting Rules Meant ‘Chaos’ For Hospitals

New HHS COVID-19 Reporting Rules Meant ‘Chaos’ For Hospitals

Many health systems had just two days to expand or overhaul their COVID-19 patient-data-reporting practices, according to leaders from more than 10 state hospital associations. A flurry of controversy erupted this past week following the publicization of a Trump administration directive to hospitals to bypass the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention when reporting COVID-19 […]
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2021 ICD-10-CM Guidelines Clarify Reporting of COVID-19 Manifestations

2021 ICD-10-CM Guidelines Clarify Reporting of COVID-19 Manifestations

  Coders should note that the temporary guidelines will expire September 30. CMS released the 2021 ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting on July 8, several weeks earlier than usual. The coding guidelines, which take effect October 1, include new instructions for reporting manifestations of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19), among other changes. The guidelines include a new […]
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How a Pandemic Impacts HIPAA Requirements

How a Pandemic Impacts HIPAA Requirements

As healthcare business professionals, we have been trained in the importance of following HIPAA privacy and security requirements. As coders, auditors, and health information services professionals we are bound by the HITECH Act of 2009, which outlines the responsibilities of “business associates” with respect to HIPAA requirements. As business associates, we are required to “appropriately […]
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FY21 ICD-10-CM – More Than Codes

FY21 ICD-10-CM – More Than Codes

The FY21 ICD-10-CM codes were released by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on July 1, 2020.  The new and updated diagnosis codes are another part of the preparation for FY21 which begins on October 1, 2020. The final codes were very similar to the diagnosis codes that were released earlier this year. […]
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2021 Telehealth Reimbursement

CMS Outlines Telehealth Reimbursement for 2020-21 eCQM Programs

  The documents released earlier this month offer details on 42 eCQMs for telehealth services during the 2020 performance period and 39 eCQMs for telehealth services during the 2021 performance period. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has released additional details on telehealth reimbursement through quality reporting programs for the 2020 and 2021 performance […]
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Early Impact Of CMS Expansion Of Medicare Telehealth During COVID-19

Early Impact Of CMS Expansion Of Medicare Telehealth During COVID-19

During the Coronavirus pandemic, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has taken unprecedented action to expand telehealth for Medicare beneficiaries. Since people were advised to stay at home to reduce risk of exposure of COVID-19, there was an urgency to increase access to telehealth services to help people who need routine care and […]
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Post COVID-19_ Medical Billing Finally Realizes the Value of Text-to-Pay

Post COVID-19: Medical Billing Finally Realizes the Value of Text-to-Pay

Contactless payments were on the rise even before COVID-19 hit. But now, health systems should see them as essential. Consumers are increasingly wary of touching a credit card terminal that others have used, a perfect conduit for spreading germs. For consumers, text payments serve as a convenient contactless way to pay, but there are other unique benefits […]
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