As federal agencies release new and complex regulations for acute and postacute care facilities, providers are faced with the daunting task of unraveling and complying with the latest changes while ensuring patients receive quality care.
The focus of FY 2018 code changes is specificity. Payers now expect codes to reflect the exact diagnosis and care given before claims will be reimbursed. Increased granularity in both clinical documentation and coding is critical for revenue cycle success in the year ahead.
Email is a routine and essential part of communication in healthcare—even when communicating PHI. But setting and enforcing HIPAA-compliant email policies continues to be tricky for many organizations.
A new effort is underway to allow observation stays to count toward the three-day stay required by CMS to qualify for reimbursement for a postacute skilled nursing facility stay.
This week's note reviews pre-service coverage analysis processes in light of the recent CMS decision to delegate the target, probe, and educate medical review strategy to the Medicare Administrative Contractors.
