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Revive infection control protocols to protect against emerging Coronavirus epidemic

02/10/2020

HHS announced Jan. 31 the novel Coronavirus virus – aka 2019-nCoV – that went epidemic in the Hubei province of China last year and has since been detected in a handful of cases here constitutes a public health emergency in the U.S. This is a cue for you to check and, if necessary, tighten infection control in your office.

Revive infection control protocols to protect against emerging coronavirus epidemic

02/10/2020

by: Roy Edroso

Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar announced Jan. 31 that the novel coronavirus — aka 2019-nCoV — that went epidemic in the Hubei province of China and has since been detected in a handful of cases stateside constitutes a public health emergency in the U.S.

CMS allows coverage of genomic testing to go beyond advanced cancer diagnoses

02/10/2020

by: Jim Dresbach

Medicare will allow providers to harness a powerful DNA sequencing technology that can rapidly monitor a patient’s genome and pinpoint harmful disease characteristics — and the applications may extend well beyond cancer.

New Calif. law accelerates disclosure timeline against sexually predatory docs

02/10/2020

by: Roy Edroso

New, expansive requirements for reporting providers accused of sexual misconduct have become law in California, suggesting that the trend presaged by #MeToo could require practices to step up their reporting in other states as well.

Update: ICD-10-CM panel issues tabular instructions for new vaping code

02/10/2020

by: Laura Evans

When you encounter vaping-related injury or illness cases in a clinical setting, you are to report the new emergency vaping code, U07.0 (Vaping-related disorder), as the primary diagnosis, according to newly issued tabular guidance for the code from the ICD-10-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee.

One genomic testing code skyrockets, another fluctuates, but denials remain lofty

02/10/2020

by: Jim Dresbach

As practices find expanded coverage of Next Generation Sequencing tests, two CPT codes used most frequently — 81432 (Genomic sequencing procedures and other molecular multianalyte assays) and 81445 (Targeted genomic sequence panel, neoplasm, 5-50 genes) — are on divergent paths.

Protect your patients from Medicare scams with proactive education, tips

02/03/2020

by: Jim Dresbach

Medical practices that want to protect their patients should pay close attention to fraudsters looking to make major, illegal dollars off Medicare in 2020. Officials warn that scams tend to escalate when health care is in the news, and since 2020 is an election year, you can expect an increase in scammers seeking to raid Medicare accounts.

Direct Contracting, launching soon, pushes practices to put more skin in the game

02/03/2020

by: Roy Edroso

The Direct Contracting (DC) demonstration model that CMS is rolling out brings some free-market features to Medicare, letting practices negotiate with providers on how much of the capitated payments they’ll receive. Experts think this represents a trend in CMS’ approach to value-based care.

CMS warns on sleep studies: Watch coding, certifications and diagnoses

02/03/2020

by: Roy Edroso

Heads up: CMS, tipped off by OIG, is warning providers who do sleep studies to make sure they have appropriate documentation and don’t botch the billing of technicians.

Sleep study codes hold steady – but CPAP startup code is a denial trap

02/03/2020

by: Roy Edroso

While sleep studies and continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) devices are getting more popular, Medicare billing for them so far has held pretty steady. But as the tough denial rates for a major CPAP code show, you still have to be careful about billing them.

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