News

Q: My organization is considering outsourcing our coding to an offshore company. Does HIPAA apply only to healthcare entities and business associates located within the United States? If so, what would happen if the offshore third party experiences a breach? What are the risks associated with this decision?

Q: Was there an Excludes note change for subcategory G93.4- (other and unspecified encephalopathy) for fiscal year 2021? If so, how will it change any ICD-10-CM reporting and reimbursement for toxic encephalopathy and metabolic encephalopathy going forward?

Q: With novel coronavirus (COVID-19) concerns still persisting, patients should be avoiding emergency department (ED) visits when possible. How can case managers help in this process?

CMS on January 27 updated coding and billing instructions to hospitals for new COVID-19 treatments add-on payment (NCTAP).

The incident involved information stored in a UPMC health plan employee’s email account, per the security notice posted on UPMC’s website. UPMC says it was first notified on December 9 of a phishing incident that may have exposed protected health information (PHI) of patients

In its February MLN Connects newsletter, CMS reminds providers that visit complexity code G2211 is a bundled service under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), meaning the application of this code will not result in additional payment for a billed E/M visit service.

Q: What procedures were removed from the inpatient-only (IPO) list starting January 1, 2021? What status indicators and APCs were they assigned to?

Q: What are spinal decompression procedures and how are they reported with CPT codes? 

Q: Does the HIPAA Privacy Rule prevent the sharing of electronic health information across states or jurisdictions?

Q: While no one has a crystal ball, I am wondering what changes we might be expecting in the near future as the new administration makes its mark. How might case management be impacted?