Projects on the backburner, like having a remote workforce, paperless patient communications, and electronic signatures, have been implemented faster out of necessity. For years, revenue cycle executives have talked about modernization wants and needs. But in many healthcare organizations, a lack of time, money, or will—or all three—have stood in the way of moving […]
Healthcare providers are granted even more latitude for use of telehealth services during the COVID-19 public health emergency. On a Friday, at month-end, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) kindly dropped another bomb on us: more temporary policy changes during the public health emergency for COVID-19. We may have this all sorted out just […]
COVID-19 is changing the way we practice medicine. Social distancing measures have led to a surge in demand for telemedicine, while practices around the country are seeing a reduced number of in-office patient visits. While the regulatory environment has not always been favorable towards telehealth, federal and state legislations have recently loosened in an effort […]
Without much warning, the novel Coronavirus, or COVID-19, has taken over our healthcare system. It has taxed our healthcare workers, our national stockpiles of PPE, and affected millions of Americans nationwide. In addition to healthcare workers on the front lines, the pandemic has also impacted the healthcare revenue cycle, causing major confusion, questions, and inconsistencies as […]
Become a coding superhero with X-ray vision. When is imaging separately reported, and how? The relative value units (RVUs) for some codes include the provider’s use of imaging to accurately visualize the specimen or problem the code is meant to address. The most notable changes with regards to radiology for 2020 can be found […]
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has updated COVID-19 antibody testing guidance. According to a news release, the revised rule allows laboratories and commercial manufacturers to help accelerate the use of tests they develop to expand rapid testing capacity. The rule allows companies to develop and distribute serological, antibody, tests after validation while an […]
Betsy Nicoletti, MS, a nationally recognized coding expert, will take your coding questions via email and provide guidance on how to code properly to maximize reimbursement. Have a question about coding? Send it here. In this column, Nicoletti outlines some key guidance for using telemedicine. These rules would apply during the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid […]
CMS is now offering MIPS credit for all participating clinicians of the Quality Payment Program to help report and provide COVID-19 data. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is asking all clinicians in the Quality Payment Program (QPP) to contribute to the scientific research and reporting efforts to help curb the spread […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pushing clinicians to participate in the Quality Payment Program to contribute scientific research and evidence to aid in the fight against the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic. According to a news release, those who participate in COVID-19 clinical trials and report information may now earn credit in the Merit-based […]
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) created two new HCPCS Level II codes for lab tests that use high-throughput technologies to detect SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. The rate for these codes is $100, roughly twice the rate of similar tests that don’t use high-throughput technologies. Consider New Codes in Place of […]