HIPAA requires covered entities to protect and confidentially handle patients’ protected health information. Organizations must remain vigilant or they risk violating HIPAA
The recently released 2019 ICD-10-CM update adds some codes to allow additional diagnoses to be reported while adding others for greater specificity. The update includes more than 600 additions, deletions, and revisions.
Instances of hospital-acquired conditions declined 8% from 2014 through 2016, resulting in the prevention of approximately 8,000 patient deaths, according to data gathered by the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research. The reduction in HACs led to a $2.9 billion healthcare spending decrease.
CMS announced revised pricing for covered drugs and biologicals in the July 2018 update to the OPPS. Hospitals should thoroughly review all of the updates to ensure any required changes are in place by the stated effective dates.
Q: If a patient comes into an outpatient facility for a surgical procedure and the physician evaluates the patient before performing the procedure, can you append modifier -25 to the E/M service?
The number of data breaches in the first quarter of 2018 marked a four-year low with a total of 685 breaches. This number is down from 1,444 breaches in the first quarter of 2017 and 1,153 in the first quarter of 2016.
