Tag: CMS

ICD-10-CM Guidelines

Updates to the 2020 ICD-10-CM Guidelines

Cliff notes for the FY20 ICD-10-CM Guidelines for Coding and Reporting. EDITOR’S NOTE: Senior healthcare consultant Laurie Johnson reported this story live during Aug. 13 edition of Talk Ten Tuesday. The following is an edited transcript of her reporting. Last week, I announced that the 2020 ICD-10-CM guidelines were finally released on Aug. 6, 2019. I […]
CMS Proposes Changes to Physician Fee Schedule, Quality Payment Program

CMS Proposes Changes to Physician Fee Schedule, Quality Payment Program

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is proposing changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) and the Quality Payment Program as part of its effort to reduce provider burden. “Clinicians are drowning in paperwork and reporting requirements caused by cumbersome government rules and regulations,” said CMS Administrator Seema Verma in a press […]
CMS Proposes Updates for OPPS, Pitches Price Transparency Rules

CMS Proposes Updates for OPPS, Pitches Price Transparency Rules

The agency dropped proposals for three key payment programs aimed at cutting administrative burden and boosting price transparency. CMS has released three new proposed payment programs that aim to reduce administrative burden, put patients over paperwork, and increase price transparency for patients, the agency said in a statement emailed to journalists. Specifically, CMS has proposed […]
Medical Necessity and Denial Management

Medical Necessity and Denial Management

Quality work reduces the burden of the denial management process. When my children were young, they really enjoyed the movie “The Neverending Story.” It’s about a boy who reads a magical book that tells a story of a young warrior whose task is to stop a dark force called “The Nothing” from engulfing a mystical […]
electronic health record

Is Your EHR Ready For PDGM?

When the Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) launches Jan. 1, 2020, leveraging tools and resources to ensure compliance will be critical to a successful transition. Home health care providers already have one helpful tool in place: the electronic health record (EHR). By incorporating workflow efficiencies, alerts, customizable features and feedback reporting capabilities, EHRs can provide visibility […]
AMA on Evaluation and Management Service Codes Guidelines

AMA on Evaluation and Management Service Codes Guidelines

Medical coders who were unsure what documentation non-Medicare payers would expect in light of the Patients Over Paperwork Initiative now have more to go on. The initiative reduced documentation requirements for outpatient evaluation and management service codes (CPT® 99201-99215) provided to Medicare Part B patients beginning in 2021. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) indicated in their initiative that, although […]
Medicare Advantage Plan Denials

Medicare Advantage Plan Denials: Is That Convoluted or What?

Medicare Advantage Plan contracts are “take-it-or-leave-it” agreements Many questions are swirling about regarding Medicare Advantage Plan (MAP) denials asking what to do about the increasing number and given reasons.  I’ve heard or read some amazing stories where payers have gone to astounding lengths to deny claims.  Answers are also swirling about based on understandings of […]