The Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES), which providers and vendors use to submit assessment data, is being upgraded to make the system more reliable, scalable, secure, and accessible.  The enhancements will occur in phases (by provider type) and began with Long- Term Care Hospitals (LTCHs) in March 2019, followed by Inpatient Rehabilitation Facilities (IRFs)

Recently the House of Representatives’ Small Business Committee convened for a hearing on utilization management and barriers to care in small medical practices. In particular this hearing focused on the application of prior authorization within Medicare Advantage (MA) plans and the associated challenges faced by patients and providers of services due to prior authorization requirements.

With the recent rise in medical services provided outside of a doctor’s office, there has been a surge of FCA enforcement actions against home health agencies (HHAs). HHAs are public or private agencies or organizations that are primarily engaged in providing skilled nursing services and other therapeutic services to patients in their residence.[1] The last

Despite hospital systems and health officials calling out the need for more primary care doctors, graduates of U.S. medical schools are becoming less likely to choose to specialize in one of those fields. A record-high number of primary care positions was offered in the 2019 National Resident Matching Program—known to doctors as “the Match.” It

After pushing more medical care out of hospitals and into patients’ homes, the federal government wants to pay less for home health care. Impending changes in Medicare’s home health payment system would dramatically alter how agencies are reimbursed for services, cutting payments by 8 percent. Lower rates would squeeze profit margins in what has been

The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019, signed into law last week by President Donald J. Trump, includes an extension of the Medicare sequestration cuts for an additional two years. This across the board cut of two percent applies to all Medicare provider payments. The Bipartisan Budget Act of 2019 will increase federal spending by $320

Beginning January 2020, primary care practitioners may qualify to participate in one of five new payment model options that focus on supporting care for patients who have chronic conditions and serious illnesses. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) Primary Care Initiative is a new set of payment models that will provide primary care

As Wei Wei Lee sat with her doctor to discuss starting a family, she felt a “distance” between them. The physician was busy on the computer and focused on the screen. Health care — and how much it costs — is scary. But you’re not alone with this stuff, and knowledge is power. “An Arm

One piece of information you may find surprising from an Aug. 21 Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services education call, “Home Health Patient-Driven Groupings Model: Operational Issues,” regards payment hold time. As always, Medicare contractors will hold home health agency claims between Jan. 1 and when system changes get installed — this year, Jan. 6. The period of time is usually

Members, please pay close attention if you are a Medicare provider. All new Medicare cards have been mailed. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) is encouraging providers to use Medicare Beneficiary Identifiers (MBIs) NOW to protect patients’ identities as providers must use MBIs beginning January 1, 2020. Providers claims will get rejected if they submit with Health

An Accountable Care Organization (ACO) is a voluntary association of healthcare providers that bases physician reimbursement on performance quality and outcomes in order to lower overall costs. This method incentivizes physicians to deliver higher-quality care at an affordable cost, and is replacing the traditional fee-for-service model that has dominated healthcare in the past. The Medicare

A Delaware Bankruptcy Court Judge has entered an order prohibiting Medicare from withholding payments to a diagnostic testing provider, True Health Diagnostics, LLC, while the bankruptcy case is pending. Prior to filing the bankruptcy case, Medicare identified two large overpayments owed by True Health and also suspended its future payments. The Judge determined that it

The Empower Care Act (Ensuring Medicaid Provides Opportunities for Widespread Equity, Resources, and Care) was re-introduced to the senate early in 2019. This bill is intended to expand as well as renew/reauthorize funding and participation in the transitioning of Medicaid beneficiaries from hospital or institutional settings to home and community-based services under the Money Follows

New Home Health Agency PEPPER Available The Q4CY18 release of the Home Health Agency (HHA) Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns Electronic Report (PEPPER) with statistics through December 2018 is now available for download through the PEPPER Resources Portal. To obtain your agency’s PEPPER, the Chief Executive Officer, President, Administrator or Compliance Officer should: Review the

Each quarter, the Fiscal Intermediary Shared System (FISS) is updated to include new logic for claims processing, pricing, etc. When the release is installed, Palmetto GBA places a temporary “hold” to ensure the release is installed properly. During this time, claims with dates on service of July 1, 2019, or later will be held in

Payment models have undergone numerous and frustrating changes over the past few years, and the implementation of the value-based reimbursement model is no exception. Physicians submitting claims to Medicare have likely experienced the changes relating to this payment model. Value-based reimbursements are/were intended to compensate providers based on performance and guidelines focused on improving patient

Over recent years the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has sought to streamline hospice beneficiary eligibility inquiries and establish the HIPAA Eligibility Transaction System (HETS) as the single source for this data. This effort was delayed due in part to the availability of insufficient information in the HETS system regarding hospice benefit period

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a second set of revisions to Chapter 10 of the Medicare Claims Processing Manual providing instructions to home health agencies for claims submission under PDGM. CMS Transmittal 4294/Change Request (CR) 11272, Home Health (HH) Patient-Driven Groupings Model (PDGM) – Additional Manual Instructions, provides some clarity

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) has approved the Home Health Change of Care (HHCCN) Form, CMS-10280.  Effective July 1, 2019, all Home Health Agencies (HHA) will be required to use the renewed form with the expiration date of 4/30/2022 on the bottom.  Please note that HHAs may continue to use the old form

Treating patients is your job. So too is getting paid. Unless you belong to a large medical group, chances are that your staff is taking care of billing for you. Small practices are especially at risk of delayed payments for a variety of reasons. Approximately 83% of physician practices with fewer than five practitioner states