Medical City Hospital (MHC) in Dallas asked its core measurement teams for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), pneumonia, and heart failure to develop readmission reduction processes for each condition.
CMS has proposed to rescind the requirement for signatures on all lab requisitions, according to the "Medicare Program; Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule: Signature on Requisition" proposed rule published in the Federal Register June 30. The 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, published last November, requires a physician's or nonphysician practitioner's (NPP) signature on lab requisitions for tests paid under the clinical lab fee schedule, regardless of whether there is a signed order. This is the opposite of prior CMS rulings that indicated signatures were not required on requisitions, although written and signed orders were required.
The Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER), distributed either quarterly or annually depending on the type of facility, contains large amounts of data on how a facility compares to others in the same state, the same jurisdiction (i.e., the same Medicare Administrative Contractor), and nationwide in terms of coding and medical necessity target areas. (Find out more at www.pepperresources.org.)PEPPER identifies when facilities are outliers in their reporting of multiple risk areas. For coding, those areas are:
Editor's note: MRB is celebrating its 25th year in 2011, and each month we're bringing you special content. This month we've reached out to our editorial advisory board members and columnists for their advice on topics such as ICD-10, EHRs, and department management. We received so much information that we're putting together a compilation to release at the AHIMA annual convention in October in Salt Lake City-be sure to find us in the exhibit hall for your free copy. We'll also make it downloadable for all MRB subscribers after the conference. In the meantime, read on for a taste of what the board members had to say.
Organizations have had their chance to weigh in on the proposed accounting of disclosures rule, and some larger ones don't exactly see it working as written. Here is what some organizations had to say.
Q Our authorization form for release of information requires patients to sign separate lines to authorize release of sensitive information, such as sexually transmitted diseases, substance abuse, and genetic information. We understand that very few other covered entities do this. Is this a legal requirement? And if so, may we change our form to state that all information will be released unless the patient indicates otherwise?
