Hospitals are increasingly utilizing locum tenens physicians, advanced practice providers (APPs), and telehealth services to address staffing shortages. The Innovation & Flexibility: Journey to Sustainable Healthcare Report reflects data from 129 healthcare administrators representing a range of facility types and sizes. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated hospital staffing shortages as many clinicians faced burnout and […]
CMS has published the Fiscal Year 2023 (Oct 1, 2022) final rules for Medicare payments. The major rule is, of course, the inpatient hospital prospective payment system (IPPS) and long-term care hospital (LTCH) PPS rule. The final rule, as reported by Stanley Nachimson, contains several payment and quality program changes that go into effect Oct […]
Self-pay after insurance patient collection rates dropped from 76 percent in 2020 to 55 percent in 2021 as the share of out-of-pocket balances over $7,500 grew. Patient collection rates at hospitals declined and bad debt increased when out-of-pocket bills reached $7,500, according to a report from Crowe Revenue Cycle Analytics (Crowe RCA). The report reflects […]
More than half of economists agree that the U.S. economy is headed for a downturn. Contrary to popular belief, the healthcare sector has never been recession-proof. Reports indicate that the healthcare industry is affected later in a recession and has a longer recovery period. Compared to other healthcare facilities, like hospitals and emergency rooms, independent […]
Another study confirms that medical billing costs in the US significantly exceed those in similar countries, but researchers now know why: coding drives up US administrative spending. Complex coding structures in the US are driving up medical billing costs in the US, making it one of the most expensive countries to get paid, according to […]
Total expenses for hospitals and physician practices were up 7 percent compared to June 2021. Hospitals, health systems, and physician practices saw rising revenues and patient volumes in June 2022, but it was not enough to offset the continuously high expenses, leading to negative margins for the sixth consecutive month, according to data from Kaufman […]
Appeal rights appear much narrower than many expected. Earlier this year, a federal appeals court issued an opinion on Barrows v. Becerra, a long-running class action lawsuit. Filed by a group of Medicare beneficiaries, the suit alleged they had to pay out of pocket for skilled nursing care—despite being hospitalized for over three days—because their […]
What to do when the pathology doesn’t correlate to the service provided. The rules for cutaneous (skin) excision coding are straightforward: When the pathology for a lesion is benign, code for excision of benign lesion, 11400-11446; and when the pathology for a lesion is malignant, code for excision of malignant lesion, 11600-11646. But in the […]
The final rules for fiscal year 2023 include a 3.8 percent payment increase for hospice providers, 2.5 percent increase for inpatient psychiatric facilities, and 3.2 percent boost for inpatient rehabilitation facilities. CMS has released final rules solidifying Medicare reimbursement rates for hospice providers, inpatient psychiatric facilities (IPFs), and inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs) for fiscal year […]
Can you survive an OIG Audit? When the Public Health Emergency (PHE) was extended for the 10th time on July 15, 2022, continuing the PHE through October 13, 2022, so were many waivers under the 1135 CARES Act of March 20, 2020. However, if you are not keeping up with the commercial payers and the […]