CMS’ proposal in the 2020 OPPS proposed rule mandating the disclosure of negotiated charges between hospitals and payers may exceed the agency’s legal authority, the American Hospital Association (AHA) stated in its comments on the proposed rule.
While the calendar year 2020 OPPS proposed rule is shorter than in prior years (819 pages for the display version), the proposed policies therein pack a punch and may be thought of as a new day dawning for the future of hospital services.
Behavioral health is a highly specialized area of coding that many coders and billers are unfamiliar with. There are hundreds of ICD-10-CM codes for mental disorders with unique characters to specify symptoms and complications.
The American Hospital Association and several other hospital groups released a joint statement criticizing CMS’ proposed price transparency policy outlined in the calendar year 2020 OPPS proposed rule that would require hospitals to publish negotiated rates with private payers.
Even if a hospital is not a teaching hospital, it may have services that require National Clinical Trial (NCT) reporting. It is logical for revenue integrity leadership to own this issue, but an explanation of the requirements for NCT reporting should be shared with all staff within the revenue cycle so there is a better appreciation of the fact that clinical trial billing rules apply more broadly than merely just to research or clinical trial studies.
CMS released the 2020 OPPS proposed rule July 29, proposing to refine previous policies related to price transparency and the 2-midnight rule, while also asking for comments on how to potentially undo its policy that reduced payments for drugs purchased under the 340B drug discount program by nearly 30%.
ED physicians commonly treat fractures. A fracture can be the result of a traumatic injury, such as a fall, or may be pathologic (i.e., due to a disease process). In general, fractures can be classified as open or closed, displaced or nondisplaced.
Before starting an ambulatory or outpatient CDI program, those tasked with the project must first create some universal definitions so everyone is on the same page and speaking the same language.
CMS released MLN Matters SE19007 on June 28, announcing that it completed round three testing of the activation of systematic validation edits for OPPS providers with multiple service locations. To allow enough time to analyze collected data, the agency is postponing implementation of the edits until October.
CMS recently released two quarterly updates effective July 1: Medicare Claims Processing Transmittal 4313, which is the July update to the OPPS, and Medicare Claims Processing Transmittal 4314, which is the related July update to the Integrated Outpatient Code Editor (I/OCE) Specifications, Attachment B.
