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CMS proposes to loosen supervision requirements for PA, CRNAs

08/12/2019

Some non-physician practitioners (NPPs) and the practices that increasingly rely on them are set to get a break from CMS in 2020, should significant scope-of-practice updates in the proposed 2020 Medicare physician fee schedule take hold.

The floor falls on GPCIs in 40 regions — with no rescue in sight

08/12/2019

by: Roy Edroso

Unless Congress acts fast — and there’s no sign that it will — the work Geographic Practice Cost Indices (GPCI) floor of 1.0 will fall away for providers in 40 geographic areas in 2020, cutting into provider reimbursement in those regions.

CMS refines electronic E/M, seeks medical record burden reduction — and much more

08/12/2019

by: DecisionHealth staff

Take stock of more key takeaways from the proposed 2020 Medicare physician fee schedule, including updates to remote-care codes, efforts to reduce the burden of medical record documentation, expanded coverage areas and much more.

Money in motion: The top 10 winners and losers from 2020 proposed rates

08/12/2019

by: Richard Scott

Cue the drum roll: After analyzing the numbers and poring over the inputs, a Part B News analysis turned up some big winners and unfortunate losers from the proposed 2020 Medicare physician fee schedule.

Providers, payers speed up pursuit of addressing social determinants of health

08/05/2019

by: Richard Scott

As health care continues its push away from fee for service, your payers are accelerating ways to address patients’ health concerns that traditionally have fallen outside of the physician-provider relationship. From coding updates to evolving plan design, much of the focus is on one thing: social determinants of health.

CMS backtracks on E/M pay changes, pivots to documentation overhaul

08/05/2019

by: Part B News staff

You can dismiss a lot of the controversial updates to office E/M services, such as blended payment rates, that drew an outcry from the medical community. But you’re now on the clock to get in line with far-reaching documentation changes for these oft-used services, according to the 2020 proposed Medicare physician fee schedule released July 29.

Even FFS practices can gain from top ACO strategies on care coordination, AWVs

08/05/2019

by: Roy Edroso

If your practice wants to prepare for a transition to value-based care, experts advise following the successful strategies laid out by top accountable care organizations (ACOs) in a new report.

Specialty impact of PFS is pretty mild — but pity the eye doctors

08/05/2019

by: Roy Edroso

Readers of the 2020 proposed Medicare physician fee schedule (PFS) are probably trying to figure out how the new E/M rules will affect their reimbursement. But CMS has already looked at last year's volume and mix of services provided by each provider specialty and assessed the effect of the proposed fee schedule on them.

Avoid diagnostic errors to cut back on patient harm, costly malpractice

07/29/2019

by: Richard Scott

Delaying or making an error in a patient’s diagnosis can prove disastrous to the patient’s health and put your practice at risk for high-dollar malpractice claims. But staying extra alert to high-risk conditions, such as cancer, and closing the feedback loop can help you avoid costly outcomes.

Prep with training, forms for when you ‘go the limit’ on suicidal patients

07/29/2019

by: Roy Edroso

Prepare providers and staff for suicidal patients with a policy that backs them up when it becomes necessary to transfer these patients to appropriate psychiatric care — even against the patient’s wishes.

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