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Reporting from the front lines: Revenue under fire, staffing cut and, yes, toilet paper stolen

04/06/2020

From a neurology practice in Florida to a university heath system in Alabama, take an intimate look – directly from providers’ perspectives – at how life has changed for frontline medical groups in the struggle against the pandemic.

Reporting from the front lines: Revenue under fire, staffing cut and, yes, stolen toilet paper

04/06/2020

by: Roy Edroso

As the coronavirus shuts down vast swaths of the American economy and the nation grapples with an unfolding national emergency, health care providers on the front lines are seeing severe repercussions to their day-to-day business operations, their financial livelihood and the ways they interact with patients.

As supplies vanish, America holds its breath for life-saving PPE boom

04/06/2020

by: Jim Dresbach

As America searched for rubber and gasoline on the home front during World War II, today’s health care workers and practices are racing against time to procure sustainable personal protective equipment (PPE) inventories.

Telehealth by phone? Maybe, but use the right codes

04/06/2020

by: Roy Edroso

Question: A provider was using the new flexibility CMS offers to do telehealth visits by Skype when his transmission was interrupted and he had to finish the encounter by talking with the patient on the phone, with no visual component. He was conducting an E/M visit, and his notes suggest a 99212. Can I bill for that?

$2 trillion stimulus boosts payments for medical practices, eases telehealth rules

04/06/2020

by: Richard Scott

Medical practice backers and industry groups are cheering the $2.2 trillion stimulus plan that President Trump signed into law March 27 to combat the severe economic consequences of the developing COVID-19 crisis.

Surveys reveal escalating PPE crisis: 90% report critical shortage of supplies

04/06/2020

by: Jim Dresbach

Nearly nine out of 10 medical facilities are experiencing personal protective equipment (PPE) shortages due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Billing telehealth under COVID-19 rules? Document need, watch payer shifts

03/30/2020

by: Roy Edroso

You may be gearing up to offer patients telehealth services during the COVID-19 emergency since CMS waived the originating site requirements. If so, you may not be familiar with the requirements – and many of them have changed in the past few weeks. Make sure you code and document these claims so that they’ll be accepted, and watch out for private payers who haven’t adopted CMS’ waiver yet.

After CMS issues telehealth waiver, know what’s changed — and what hasn’t

03/30/2020

by: James Dresbach

As telehealth allowances and guidance move with unprecedented speed, health care providers need to know what is covered by Medicare as cases increase in the COVID-19 battle.

Info blocking part of interoperability could bite you; note exceptions, document

03/30/2020

by: Roy Edroso

While two recent interoperability final rules mostly apply to health IT people, the information blocking part of the rule from the Office of the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology (ONC) will directly impact your practice’s requirements when patients ask to have their data forwarded or connected via an app. Start planning for the switchover now.

Old telehealth codes hanging in and even growing — though denials remain high

03/30/2020

by: Roy Edroso

In its quest to provide more remote services, CMS has come up with some new online codes in the past year but still pays for several older codes specifically geared to teleheath. These older codes don’t get much use, but their utilization is growing Ñ steadily and at a faster rate than their denials.

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