Tag: CMS

EM Code

Final Physician Payment Rule Keeps E/M Code Changes

CMS on Friday issued its 2020 final rules for the Physician Fee Schedule, including a streamlining of evaluation and management services (E/M) reporting that was rolled back from an earlier proposal in a change providers applauded. The final rule, which is mostly unchanged from the proposed rule put forward in July, also cuts payments to physical therapists […]
Outpatient Proposals

2020 Outpatient Proposals: 5 Rules You Should Know From CMS

Hospital and health system executives should monitor these proposals for provisions that will affect their organizations’ operations. The 2020 annual rule cycle has been active for CMS. Several proposals in the outpatient prospective payment system (OPPS) proposed rule is controversial, although there is at least one provider-friendly change. Here’s a roundup of five regulatory rules […]
Medicare Retires G Codes for Mammograms

Medicare Retires G Codes for Mammograms

Ensure that your practice’s medical coding for preventive screening mammograms aligns with the most recent guidelines during Breast Cancer Awareness Month in October. Coding Mammograms for Medicare The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) now acknowledges the CPT® mammogram codes, aligning with industry standards. This streamlines the process for coders to accurately document mammogram […]
Prevent Billing Errors to Reduce Hospice Claim Denials

Prevent Billing Errors to Reduce Hospice Claim Denials

Effective revenue cycle management can reduce hospice claim denials, particularly those associated with billing or documentation errors. In addition to slowing down payments or losing revenue, submitting inadequate or incomplete required written documentation is a sure-fire way to bring surveyors or auditors to a hospice’s doorstep. As regulators increasingly fix their eyes on the hospice space, providers […]
Affordable Care Act Plans

Affordable Care Act Plans Will Be Able To Offer Wellness Incentives Under CMS Pilot

Insurers can offer premium discounts or other incentives to engage in healthy activities, but questions remain as to whether wellness programs work. Affordable Care Act plans in 10 states will be able to offer wellness programs, as employer-sponsored plans have been doing for years. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Monday announced the opportunity for […]
CMS Finalizes How It Will Cut Medicaid DSH Payments

CMS Finalizes How It Will Cut Medicaid DSH Payments

The Senate passed a continuing resolution that would temporarily stop the implementation of Medicaid DSH payment cuts until Nov. 22, 2019. CMS on Monday finalized a rule that will reduce Medicaid Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments by $4 billion next year and $8 billion a year until fiscal year 2025. The new final rule will implement Medicaid DSH payment […]
Hospitals to Assume Risk in Value-Based Care Models

Verma Presses Hospitals to Assume Risk in Value-Based Care Models

Hospitals assuming downside financial risk under value-based care models is the key to lowering healthcare costs and improving quality, CMS believes. CMS Administrator Seema Verma urged hospitals on Tuesday to accept new value-based care models and price transparency requirements or face greater administrative burden, less competition, and lower reimbursement rates under Medicare for All. “Our choices are […]
Coding CAR T Cancer Treatment Revolutionized

Coding CAR T: Cancer Treatment Revolutionized

Now that revolutionary cancer therapy, Chimeric Antigen Receptor T-cell (CAR T-cell), is covered, let’s take a look coding CAR T. Last month the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized the long-sought rules for coverage of CAR-T, novel cutting-edge, often curative treatments that utilize the patients’ own genetically modified immune cells to fight cancer. The […]