New opportunities that will allow people to more easily receive care and services in their communities rather than being admitted to a hospital or nursing home were announced by HHS, who also finalized the Community First Choice rule, which is a new state plan option under Medicaid, and announced the participants in the Independence At […]
CMS announced a final rule today to prevent fraud in Medicare, which is estimated to save taxpayers nearly $1.6 billion over 10 years. This rule ensures that only qualified, identifiable providers and suppliers can order or certify certain medical services, equipment and supplies for people with Medicare. The rule also helps ensure beneficiaries receive quality […]
CMS today issued a proposed rule that would update Medicare payment policies and rates for inpatient stays to general acute care hospitals paid under the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and long-term care hospitals (LTCHs) paid under the LTCH Prospective Payment System (PPS). This proposed rule is a continuation of our efforts to promote improvements […]
The proposed rule announced April 9, 2012 is the third in aseries of regulations over five years that are designed to streamline health care administrative transactions, encourage greater use of standards by health care providers, and make existing standards work more efficiently. HHS proposes adoption of a standard for a unique health plan identifier (HPID), […]
Many provider groups have expressed serious concerns about their ability to meet the Oct. 1, 2013, compliance date. The proposed change in the compliance date for ICD-10 would give providers and other covered entities more time to prepare and fully test their systems to ensure a smooth and coordinated transition to these new code sets. […]
Nearly $46.5 million for basic grant funding will be distributed to State Health Insurance Assistance Programs to help people with Medicare get more information about their health benefits and choices according to CMS. The fiscal year 2012 grant is a non-competitive continuation of the SHIP grant from the prior annual grant period. These grants are […]
The AQ-IQ Pneumonia Decision Tool is a logic tool for clinical documentation improvement. CDI staff write answers into the tool to assist in seeing the clear clinical picture of this patient. The tool does not lead to an answer, but assists in the decision of whether/what type pneumonia is/isn’t present in this case. Access to […]