This week’s Medicare updates include new items added to the OIG work plan, a download link for HCPCS codes which are excepted from the lab date of service policy, a new program instruction sheet for monoclonal antibodies used to treat COVID-19, and more!
Automating claim transaction saved the healthcare providers, including medical and dental providers, and payers $122 billion in 2019–2020 and moving to fully electronic transactions could yield an additional $16.3 billion in savings, according to the Council for Affordable Quality Healthcare Inc. 2020 Index.
Q: Do companies such as FitBit (and others that sell wearable devices that track and store health information) need to abide by HIPAA regulations? Should I be concerned with how these companies are viewing and sharing my health information?
Q: During the public health emergency, are outpatient therapy services provided to a patient located in their home or a clinic billed in the same way as outpatient therapy services provided to a patient whose home has been designated a provider-based department (PBD)?
The elimination of the IPO list is planned to be a gradual process that will take three years to fully implement. This year, CMS removed over 300 surgical procedures from the list, primarily cutting the list of musculoskeletal-related procedures, which was reduced from 1,700 to 1,441. The removal of these procedures from the IPO list allows doctors who perform them to be paid for procedures performed on an outpatient basis.
