In today’s virtual environment, with its focus on flexible schedules, organizing the coding function requires consideration of time zones, team member skills, volume of work, and claim-processing schedules.
An August report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that Oceanside Medical Group, a clinic providing mental health services in Santa Monica, California, received $2.6 million in overpayments for psychotherapy services by failing to comply with Medicare billing and documentation requirements.
Along with its annual updates to the inpatient-only list, the 2020 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule finalized a proposal that will give hospitals a grace period to adjust internal policies for procedures recently removed from the inpatient-only list.
As of October 1, approximately 1,080 cases of respiratory illnesses and 18 deaths brought on by vaping have been reported in the U.S., according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Despite continued research into these cases by the CDC and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the specific cause of these illnesses remains unknown.
CMS is moving forward with multiple policies—effectively based on reducing reimbursement to hospitals—that have been deemed unlawful in court, according to the 2020 OPPS final rule, released Friday, November 1. However, the agency pushed its controversial price transparency proposals to a separate, yet-to-be released final rule.
The 2020 IPPS final rule introduced several MS-DRG changes within Major Diagnostic Category 8, effective October 1, which could affect reimbursement for certain orthopedic infections, neuromuscular scoliosis, secondary scoliosis and kyphosis.
