News

Q: I have to fly to a conference for work. I was hoping to work on the way, at the airport and on the plane, but I sometimes need to access electronic PHI to get my work done. What should I do to ensure that I stay HIPAA compliant while traveling and working in public places?

Q: I’ve heard about changes coming to the Important Message from Medicare (IM) form. How will these changes impact case managers?

Sepsis hospitalizations are on the rise and cost Medicare more than $40 billion in 2018, according to a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) study.

A recent audit conducted by the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that the majority of healthcare providers reviewed used Medicare Part D eligibility information for potentially inappropriate purposes.

Q: Does the physician have to state a patient's expected length of stay (LOS) in the documentation for an inpatient admission?

Over 20% of commercially insured adults who underwent a common in-network surgical procedure between January 2012 and September 2017 received surprise charges for the episode from out-of-network clinicians, according to a recent study published in JAMA. 

Q: What are the billing and reporting requirements for HCPCS Level II code E0784 (external ambulatory insulin infusion pump)?

Q: I work for a pharmaceutical company. I am aware of the more obvious identifiers, but are patient diagnoses or ICD-10 codes (without any other identifiers such as dates of birth or Social Security numbers) considered PHI? I have heard arguments on both sides.

Q: If a patient receives less than 24 hours of observation care, do you still have to provide the patient with the MOON form? We often have surgical outpatients who will need observation for six to 12 hours for pain control, IV antibiotics, or other services. After treatment, we will discharge them home, but we need to put them on our surgical floor to provide this care and consequently have been putting them on observation status.

This week’s Medicare updates include a new NCA on artificial hearts and related devices, the advance notice for 2021 Medicare Advantage rates and policies, two memos for hospitals regarding coronavirus considerations, and more!