Q: We have a diabetic patient with chronic kidney disease and hypertension who was admitted for treatment of chronic kidney disease (an Insertion of an arteriovenous graft for dialysis). Which ICD-10-CM code should be sequenced as the principal diagnosis – the diabetic complication code or the hypertensive renal disease code?
The October 2019 OPPS quarterly update reassigned certain injections from non-payable to separately payable. CMS also revised the status indicators for several recently approved advanced diagnostic laboratory tests (ADLT).
Perhaps the most momentous Quality Payment Program (QPP) news in the proposed 2020 Medicare physician fee schedule is the Pathways (MVP) version of the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) — but that’s not happening until 2021.
The 2020 IPPS final rule made major changes to the hospital wage index and new technology payments. Brush up on the details to ensure your organization is ready.
CMS could have saved its beneficiaries an additional $2.9 million in 2017 had it implemented a more expansive price substitution policy for Part B drugs, according to an Office of Inspector General (OIG) report.
Findings from a Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) study show that insufficient documentation caused most improper payments for chiropractic services billed to Medicare in 2018, according to the July 2019 Medicare Quarterly Compliance Newsletter.
Behavioral health is a highly specialized area of coding that many coders and billers are unfamiliar with. There are hundreds of ICD-10-CM codes for mental disorders with unique characters to specify symptoms and complications.
Facility evaluation and management (E/M) coding is based on the facility resources utilized to provide medical care. Because CMS has not created national E/M guidelines for emergency department (ED) services, providers must create their own criteria for each visit level. Review your organization’s ED E/M leveling policies to ensure compliance.
The American Hospital Association and several other hospital groups released a joint statement criticizing CMS’ proposed price transparency policy outlined in the calendar year 2020 OPPS proposed rule that would require hospitals to publish negotiated rates with private payers.
Starting January 1, 2020, the education and operations testing period will kick off, and organizations will be required to report appropriate use criteria (AUC) consultation information. Learn what you can do now to help your organization prepare to report AUCs in 2020 and beyond.
