Facility evaluation and management (E/M) coding is based on the facility resources utilized to provide medical care. Because CMS has not created national E/M guidelines for emergency department (ED) services, providers must create their own criteria for each visit level. Review your organization’s ED E/M leveling policies to ensure compliance.
Q: I work in a residential care facility, and we have smart speakers in some resident rooms. Patient information is discussed where these smart devices can “hear” it. Although most manufacturers claim speakers are not “listening in,” we all hear about how speakers sometimes do what manufacturers say they do not. Could these speakers lead to a HIPAA violation?
Q: Is there anything that a hospital needs to do regarding HIPAA and the confidentiality of famous patients? Obviously employees shouldn’t snoop, but can you recommend any added protections?
CMS’ inpatient-only rule seems simple enough on the surface—certain specified procedures, all noted in the OPPS inpatient-only list, must be performed on an inpatient basis regardless of the patient’s expected length of stay. But as with anything in healthcare, implementing this rule is hardly simple, and many organizations continue to misapply it and lose revenue as a result. Get expert answers to common inpatient-only compliance stumbling blocks.
