Back in January, I wrote an article regarding E/M codes and the need for changes to the 1995 and 1997 E/M documentation guidelines. In that article, I suggested making E/M codes for office visits solely time-based to simplify the reporting of these very subjective codes. Little did I know that this is what CMS would propose months later.
CMS did not propose any new comprehensive APCs (C-APC) last year, taking a rare year off, but it did introduced three new C-APCs in the 2019 OPPS proposed rule, released in late July.
Your organization does not have to look far to see how important it is for your business associates (BA) to comply with HIPAA. Take a glance at the OCR website for breaches involving 500 or more patients. BAs are regularly involved in these breaches along with covered entities (CE). However, the bad press almost always goes to the CEs.
Boys Town National Research Hospital, in Omaha, Nebraska, announced July 20 that it had discovered a data security incident that may have affected the personal health information of 105,309 individuals.
