Archive for the Week of April 19, 2017
Archive for the Week of April 19, 2017
Welcome to the medical billing blog archive for the week of April 19, 2017.
Here you will find links to every article added to the Outsource Management Group web site during the week of April 19, 2017.
You can browse this week's archives by clicking the "More" button from any of the excerpts below.
Medicare is Still Behind on Telehealth
Medicare has long been criticized for its narrow restrictions on the coverage and reimbursement of telehealth services. A new report to Congress by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that not much has changed over the years. Mandated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, the GAO report noted that Medicare and the US Department of Defense (DoD) trailed the Veterans Affairs (VA) system in their use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM). On the other hand, the report painted an optimistic picture of Medicare demonstrations and new care delivery models that, it said, might increase the use of telehealth in Medicare. But Gary Capistrant, chief policy …
Paper-Based Billing is Ancient History in Healthcare
“Today’s realities are that managing a practice is more complicated than ever…” That’s how an assessment begins on what it takes to successfully run a medical group in 2017 by Triple Tree, a merchant bank focused on healthcare. In a recent report, the bank also looked at the forces driving mergers of specialty groups. Chief among them is the realization by administrators and their physicians that the healthcare business isn’t what they hoped it would be. The mounting pressures are affecting medical groups’ top and bottom lines. The bank’s report suggests that while opting to be part of a larger group might sound attractive to an independent practice, the non-clinical …
New Proposed Rule to Reduce EHR Data Reporting
A new CMS proposed rule contains two provisions intended to reduce hospital eCQM reporting requirements in response to feedback calling for less aggressive EHR data reporting policies. A couple provisions in a new Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program rule proposal outline modifications to electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) reporting requirements and validation processes. In a public document in the Federal Register, CMS proposed reductions to hospital eCQM reporting policies. In the 2017 calendar year reporting period (and 2019 fiscal year payment determination), hospitals would be required to choose six available eCQMs listed in the Hospital IQR Program measure set and offer two chosen calendar year quarters of data… …
