On Aug. 2, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted the fiscal year (FY) 2022 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital (LTCH) Prospective Payment System (PPS) final rule. Effective Oct. 1, the final rule updates Medicare payment policies and quality reporting programs for inpatient and long-term care hospitals […]
Medicare will pay an additional reimbursement of about $35 per dose administered for up to a maximum of five vaccine administration services per home unit or communal living space, as long as it is in a single group living location, CMS posted on its website earlier today. The payment boost means that Medicare will […]
A leaked CMS report targeting HCA Healthcare-owned Good Samaritan Hospital in California warns the hospital to fix Medicare noncompliance issues or risk termination. A leaked CMS report put HCA Healthcare-owned Good Samaritan Hospital in California at risk of program termination by October if they fail to fix Medicare noncompliance issues that resulted in patient harm. […]
AMA announced that the CPT codes for the third doses of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are finalized and ready for the upcoming booster shot administrations. The American Medical Association (AMA) announced that the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes for the third doses of the Moderna and Pfizer COVID-19 vaccines are effective for immediate […]
While much attention has been focused on the release of the IPPS Final Rule, other final rules might have gone unnoticed. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) were very busy the first week of August, with the release of final rules for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs), hospices, inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), and inpatient […]
Personalizing your EHR is a proven best practice for new implementations and major system upgrades. These four new approaches boost physician satisfaction and improve EHR usability. When EHRs first emerged 20 years ago, system vendors pushed for standardization. Consistency was considered the only pragmatic way to support end users and enterprise-wide systems. EHR customization […]
As long as providers remain HIPAA-compliant, they will be able to text patients with ease and see all the benefits that it brings — including stronger patient loyalty, more revenue, and more referrals. Many people, and that includes patients, prefer to text because it’s quick, easy, and convenient. Texting is incredibly effective for medical practices […]
Dive Brief: A federal appeals court has ruled against UnitedHealthcare, the biggest private payer in the U.S., and reversed a 2018 decision overturning Medicare’s overpayment rule requiring insurers to refund reimbursement to CMS within 60 days if they learn a diagnosis lacks medical record support. UnitedHealthcare argued in court in November the overpayment rule was […]
Depending on the clauses, contracts can be your worst enemy or your savior. Today I pose a very important question to you. Do your participation contracts that you sign with Medicare/Medicaid, managed care organizations (MCOs), and Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) – do they even matter? Are these boilerplate contracts worth the ink and the paper […]
In the newest episode of the HealthLeaders Revenue Cycle Podcast, Charlie Brown, MBA, a former hospital executive and vice president of revenue cycle at a consulting firm, provides actionable steps for mitigating status downgrades and dealing with them effectively to ensure that organizations receive the full reimbursement for the services they provided. In his […]