Representatives from CMS and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) discussed hot topics and focus areas at HCCA's 2019 Compliance Institute in Boston, including developing interactive documentation checklists, potential changes to Stark Law this year, and methods to address the high rate of coding and documentation errors on inpatient rehabilitiation facility (IRF) claims.
The American Medical Association (AMA) and UnitedHealthcare announced a collaboration to better address social determinants of health (SDoH) by standardizing how this data is collected and processed through the creation of new ICD-10 codes related to SDoH.
Providers will find significant leeway in how they can approach and report advance care planning services for physicians given CMS’ open-ended coding requirements, which should push the already strong growth of the codes to new heights.
The April 2019 OPPS quarterly update reassigned specific skin substitute products from the low-cost group to the high-cost group, and clarified billing and reporting for chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) therapy procedures performed in the outpatient setting.
Coding for knee arthroscopies can be challenging, especially when procedures are performed in multiple compartments of the same knee. Read about anatomy and coding details required to accurately report these procedures.
The American Medical Association’s (AMA) CPT Editorial Panel approved significant changes to E/M reporting guidelines, including the deletion of a visit code, creation of new criteria for the selection of a visit level, and overhaul of the medical decision-making (MDM) documentation guidelines at a meeting held in February, to align with recent E/M changes finalized by CMS.
Many outpatient CDI professionals stepped into their roles blind—not knowing where to begin or how to tell if they were successful. However, as programs mature, they need to be able to track their progress for a number of reasons, including focusing physician education and justifying continued funding from organizational leadership.
CMS recently pushed back the start date for Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) to expand coverage terms for patients in need of an implantable cardiac defibrillator (ICD) by one month. The agency released Transmittal 213 on February 15, announcing a delayed implementation date of March 26.
