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Good news for attesters — and maybe for abstainers — in new meaningful use rule

04/27/2015

Stage 2 attesters aren’t the only providers who will have an easier time if the meaningful use proposed rule released April 10 is finalized as is — providers who gave up on attesting in 2015 may have a chance to get back in too.

2 tips to prepare with vendors, insurers in case your practice’s EHR goes down

04/27/2015

by: Roy Edroso

An EHR outage at a big urgent care chain shows that while such downtime may be a rare event, it can be a major hassle for your practice and you should talk to practice partners about how to handle it ahead of time.

No history, no problem if patient is unresponsive — but document it

04/27/2015

by: Roy Edroso

If a review of systems (ROS) is unobtainable because the patient is intubated, is it impossible to claim new patient E/M outpatient codes (99201-99205) that require all three elements (history, exam and medical decision-making)?

How changes in medical debt reporting affect your collections of patient payments

04/27/2015

by: Marla Durben Hirsch

Practices should review their accounts receivable and revisit their collection policies now that medical debt is receiving new national attention.

Accepting pictures from patients? Be secure; have policy, patient agreement

04/27/2015

by: Roy Edroso

If you’re receiving photos from patients as medical evidence, protect yourself with tight requirements for their acceptance.

See what your peers are doing with meaningful use, PQRS as MIPS approaches

04/27/2015

by: Richard Scott

The majority of providers polled in a recent survey plan to continue meeting meaningful use and Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) requirements as a major shake-up to Medicare’s programs approaches in 2019.

With SGR repealed, payment predictability, value-based fees settle in for practices

04/20/2015

by: Richard Scott

In the aftermath of the historic strike-down of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) payment formula, you can expect to see your Medicare payments arrive at their pre-April levels, while a modest pay bump and value-based payment mechanisms appear on the horizon.

New meaningful use rule would cut objectives, promote everyone to stage 2

04/20/2015

by: Roy Edroso

Your road to meeting meaningful use would get easier with shorter reporting periods and fewer measures under a new proposed rule released April 10 — even if you’re one of the eligible professionals (EPs) in stage 1 who would be promoted to “modified” stage 2.

Medicare auditors given powers to upcode, downcode claims rather than deny them

04/20/2015

by: Scott Kraft

Medicare auditors will be able to upcode or downcode claims when they believe that the provider has selected the wrong code but a payable service was rendered, according to a new CMS transmittal.

Be wary when needed elements of E/M services are missing key documentation

04/20/2015

by: Scott Kraft

When you’re missing an element of the history, examination and medical decision-making needed to bill for a new patient E/M service or an initial inpatient visit, don’t assume you can fall back on established and subsequent services. You may be running afoul of CPT coding rules and potentially taking larger payments then those to which you’re entitled.

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