CMS is expanding Medicare coverage of next-generation sequencing (NGS) to diagnose certain types of ovarian and breast cancer, according to a January 27 decision memo.
This week’s Medicare updates include a Q&A on changes to new technology add-on payments pertaining to antibiotics, a decision memo on coverage for acupuncture as a treatment for chronic low back pain, implementation details for a new ICD-10-CM code for vaping-related disorder, and more!
Q: How do we bill for services when our utilization review (UR) team determines postdischarge that an inpatient admission was not medically necessary? Are these services billed as outpatient or inpatient?
A large HIPAA breach settlement after a hospital system’s alleged failure to follow the feds’ suggested solution is a reminder that when it comes to enforcement, the government is holding all the cards.
Q: We are finding that physician documentation is lacking for vaping-related lung injuries at our hospital, making it hard to report the condition accurately. What can our coding team do to remedy this situation, and how do we accurately report vaping-related lung injuries in ICD-10-CM?
Case manager discharge planners, get ready: Another challenge awaits us in 2020. Beside the new Medicare discharge planning rule, more changes were made to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.
