Payment collection continues to be a challenge for healthcare providers. As we previously reported for Physician’s Practice, studies have indicated that doctors only collect 12% of what they are owed at the time of service, and in two out of three visits they collect nothing upfront at all. This means that physicians are sending bills to collect […]
A year since COVID-19 hit U.S. shores, the pandemic is still raging as deaths and cases strain hospital resources. Amid the scrambling, however, providers and payers are adjusting to a new normal likely to continue for months if not beyond. Though arrival of vaccines has prompted hope, the rollout has been slow and fragmented, left up to […]
CMS has announced that it will reprocess hospital outpatient claims from last year for clinic visit services provided at excepted off-campus provider-based departments. The agency will start reprocessing the claims in July 2021 in order to pay all hospitals the same rate as non-excepted off-campus provider-based departments for clinic visit services paid under the Physician Fee Schedule, […]
Healthcare providers face two new rules certain to complicate a busy year already dominated by the pandemic. The nation’s capital is facing a tremendous number of complex issues this week. Amid all this, legislative activity on two healthcare policy initiatives has advanced in the past few weeks – and those two initiatives will add […]
The American Medical Association (AMA) today announced that the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set is being updated by the CPT Editorial Panel to include vaccine and administration codes that are unique to the COVID-19 vaccine candidate under development by Janssen Pharmaceutica, a division of Johnson & Johnson. The new CPT codes will be effective for use […]
More than 80% of survey respondents stated that they have confidence in their organization’s ability to “rapidly adjust their plans and strategies.” Healthcare finance leaders are more optimistic about the ability to adjust to a changing business environment and utilize quality data in the decision-making process, according to the 2021 Healthcare Financial Trends Survey report released […]
Medicare beneficiaries now have immediate access to innovative medical technology approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), rather than having to wait for it to clear additional bureaucratic hurdles before coverage is approved. The Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology (MCIT) final rule issued this week eliminates the time and cost innovators were formerly […]
Several changes have been recently made to the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting for fiscal year (FY) 2021. The guidelines changes affect code assignment for conditions and symptoms related to COVID-19. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the updates in December 2020. Familiarize yourself with the following new and revised guidance to […]
International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) broke from the usual release schedule and implemented the following six new codes related to COVID-19 on Jan. 1 and issued accompanying guidelines. Z20.822 Contact with and (suspected) exposure to COVID-19 For asymptomatic individuals with actual or suspected exposure to COVID-19, assign code Z20.822. For symptomatic […]
Five tips for improving RCM in a post-pandemic world As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the American Hospital Association (AHA) estimates that hospitals and health systems have lost more than $202 billion from a drop in revenue, combined with COVID-19 expenses, during the four-month period from March to June 2020. Healthcare services expenditures also dropped 38% in […]