Many HIM directors find that managing the coding team requires a different type of focus than other functions within the department. This may be true because coding professionals have advanced education, prefer a quiet work environment, and require less direction.
This week’s Medicare updates include the July updates for the OPPS and ambulatory surgical center payment system, a new national coverage analysis for vagus nerve stimulation as a treatment for treatment-resistant depression, an advisory opinion related to telemedicine, and more!
Predicting CMS policies can be a foolhardy exercise, especially with a relatively new administration and frequent turnover at the highest levels of HHS over the last year. But it’s safe to say drug payment policy has been and will continue to be a focus of the current regime.
Healthcare providers are often confused about what a commercial or managed care payer would want in order to approve the claim. Much of this confusion comes from the timing of requirements to ensure reimbursement.
CMS recently released MLN Matters SE18001 to provide healthcare practitioners with instructions and coding guidance for specimen validity when performed and billed in combination with drug testing. The article was issued to remind laboratories and other providers performing urine drug testing that specimen validity testing (SVT) is not separately billable.
