News & Analysis

March 1, 2018
Briefings on APCs

One of the most memorable sessions at the AMA CPT Symposium in November 2017 involved an impromptu open mic feedback session facilitated by CMS’ Marge Watchorn, deputy director of the Division of Practitioner Services. The focus of this session was the applicability of the current CMS documentation guidelines for E/M services.

February 28, 2018
HIM Briefings

CMS, the Veterans Health Administration, and some states measure our care quality based on risk-adjusted readmission rates after inpatient admissions. In fact, up to 3% of our hospital’s Medicare inpatient revenue (used to pay physician subsidies) is at risk if we don’t manage our patients’ readmissions in concert with Medicare’s algorithms.

February 28, 2018
HIM Briefings

In advance of ICD-10-CM/PCS, many institutions implemented computer-assisted coding (CAC) hoping to mitigate the anticipated productivity losses, but research has confirmed suspicions that there is an inverse relationship between coding productivity and accuracy.

February 22, 2018
Medicare Insider

This week's note from the instructor reviews the terms and policies currently in use for telehealth services that are covered by Medicare. 

February 21, 2018
Medicare Insider

This week’s Medicare updates include a list of new topics proposed for recovery audit contractor review, a final decision memo on a cardiology device NCD, a diagnosis code update for add-on payments for a blood clotting factor, and more! 

February 14, 2018
Medicare Insider

This week’s Medicare updates include a fact sheet on the transition to new Medicare cards, a table to clarify alternative payment models’ statuses in the Quality Payment Program, a review of a health system’s compliance with inpatient rehabilitation facility service billing requirements, and more! 

Pages