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Q: Is a covered entity permitted to disclose PHI for litigation purposes? For example, if a covered entity is being sued for malpractice, can it present information that would qualify as PHI during the trial? If so, what are the limits on the type of information it can disclose?

Q: At times, case managers with nursing backgrounds are being asked to fill in and assume patient care roles during the COVID-19 pandemic. What should case managers do if they do not feel comfortable they can succeed in the roles they've been assigned?

Medicare now covers acupuncture for chronic lower back pain, effective for claims with dates of service on or after January 21, 2020, according to a recently published National Coverage Determination.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) issued a release May 6 to warn of advanced persistent threat (APT) groups using the COVID-19 pandemic to target healthcare organizations and other essential services.

CMS released the fiscal year (FY) 2020 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule May 11, which includes just shy of 600 ICD-10-CM code changes. Proposed changes include 490 code additions, 47 revisions, and 58 invalidations, slated to go into effect October 1.

Q: Which ICD-10-CM codes would we use to report an emergency department (ED) encounter for a patient presumed to have COVID-19 who does not undergo diagnostic testing?

Q: Should providers be documenting the time for all telehealth and telemedicine visits?

Q: We need to train a wide range of employees on HIPAA — from physicians to temporary nursing staff hired through a staffing agency to medical scribes and coders. Should we utilize the same HIPAA training methods across the board? Or do you recommend that we develop different training methods for each department? How should we go about doing that?

Q: There have been frequent waivers and regulatory changes throughout the COVID-19 public health emergency. What are the most important changes that case managers need to be aware of?

CMS is proposing that hospitals report inpatient payer-specific median negotiated rates with Medicare Advantage organizations and third-party payers on the hospital cost report, according to the fiscal year (FY) 2021 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) proposed rule.