Practice Management Resources
Marketing 101 for Physician Practices
"How to Market Your Practice" - from the Oslo Annual Meeting
Practice Management
Affordable Care Act Expands Medicare Coverage for Prevention and Wellness
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) adds coverage for a new "Wellness Visit" and eliminates cost-sharing for almost all of the preventive services covered by Medicare, effective January 1, 2011. Read more about the changes in preventive care coverage by Medicare. For more information about coding the Medicare annual wellness, visit the CMS website.
Highmark Medicare Services updates several of their Local Coverage Determinations (LCDs) and Billing Articles
Read more.
Documenting the Review of Systems
Statistics show the history portion of an Evaluation & Management visit is most often under-documented and upon payer audit, most often the cause for down coding of your E&M services by various payers. Read more for a Q&A session that will assist practice managers and physicians when capturing the Review of Systems.
Practice Managers Resources
Medical Practice Management Resources
-
HIPAA Templates
-
Coding Tips
-
OSHA
News
Medicaid Primary Care Incentive Payments Delayed, but will be Retroactive
MSNJ confirmed with DMAHS that the division will file the necessary State Plan Amendment (SPA) to obtain federal approval for the primary care incentive payments for fee-for service physicians. The SPA is due to the federal government by March 31st. Once the State receives approval and increases the rates, retroactive payments (going back to January 1, 2013) will be made to physicians who qualify under the federal regulations. Read more.
Medicaid Primary Care Incentive Payment Attestation: March 15th Deadline for FFS Physicians
CMS clarified that all physicians who qualify for the ACA enhanced payments to Medicaid primary care providers must complete an attestation form indicating board certification status in a primary care specialty. The deadline for submission of the ACA Self-Attestation Form for traditional fee-for-service Medicaid is March 15, 2013. An original signature is required; therefore the form must be mailed to: Molina Medicaid Solutions, P.O. Box 4804, Trenton, NJ 08650. Fee for service physicians who do not file the attestation form by March 15th will not receive the retroactive payments. Fee-for-service physicians are also being "reminded of the importance of reporting their true usual and customary charges on these claims" to "ensure that adjustment payments for eligible claims can be processed correctly." Please see the DMAHS newsletter for details. The fee-for-service deadline does not apply to physicians in the MCOs; a deadline will be provided in a letter to the physician from the MCO. Read more.
CMS Announces ICD-10 Official Date
On Friday, August 24, CMS announced the final rule on ICD-10. The final rule states that there will be a one year delay in the compliance date from October 1, 2013 to October 1, 2014 for the use of the ICD-10 diagnosis and procedure codes. This change allows providers and payers additional time to implement the new code set as it is more complex and costly. View the fact sheet.
EHR Incentive Program: Stage 2 Final Rule
On August 23, CMS published the final rule for Stage 2 of the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs. The rule provides new criteria that eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals must meet in order to successfully participate in the EHR Incentive Programs. View CMS’ new section on their website for resources on Stage 2. Listen to a CMS webinar on “How to Play by the (Final) Rules: An Overview of Meaningful Use Stage 2 & the Standards and Certification Criteria Final Rules” View AMA’s table and summary on the Stage 2 Final Rule. Read more