The American Hospital Association recently released its response to CMS’ FY 2017 IPPS proposed rule. The letter, which was sent to CMS’ acting administrator Andrew Slavitt, was presented on behalf of approximately 5,000 AHA member facilities and 43,000 individual members.
CMS recently released the 2017 ICD-10-PCS code updates and guidelines, which include changes to certain root operations. Of the updates, the most notable modifications are the addition of root operation Perfusion, and edits to the current definitions of Control and Creation.
The American Health Information Management Association has officially responded to proposed ICD-10-CM/PCS codes that were presented at the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting held in March by CMS.
CMS issued the fiscal year 2017 IPPS proposed rule on April 18, and has proposed changes to the Medicare Code Editor software program based on numerous provider requests.
CMS issued the fiscal year 2017 IPPS proposed rule yesterday with updates to several quality initiatives and a reversal of the agency’s 0.2% payment reduction instituted along with the 2-midnight rule in the FY 2014 rule.
An infographic newly released by CMS guides healthcare providers toward better assessing, addressing, and maintaining progress since ICD-10 implementation. Identifying key performance indicators and creating baselines for KPI analysis are important steps in tracking progress, says CMS.
On March 9 and 10, CMS held the ICD-10 Coordination and Maintenance Committee meeting to discuss approving changes, additions, and other modifications to the ICD-10 code set.
According to the American Hospital Association’s 2015 fourth quarter RACTrac survey, the most commonly cited reason for a Recovery Auditor’s complex claim denial is due to an inpatient coding error.
The mosquito-borne illness known as Zika virus still has unanswered questions surrounding the illness its self, but thanks to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, an official ICD-10-CM diagnosis code has been assigned to the virus.
CMS is reporting that the Quality Improvement and Evaluation System (QIES) will be down for five days in March due to extended systems maintenance. The QIES will be unavailable starting at 8 p.m. Eastern on March 16, and returning March 21 at 11:59 p.m., according to CMS.
A decrease in staff productivity has been the top challenge for providers after ICD-10 was implemented, but relatively few organizations have seen a significant decrease, according to a recent survey from Navicure.
If two ICD-10-CM diagnoses are not related to each other, but exist at the same time, they may be reported together despite an Excludes1 note, according to a recent release from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The coding advice has been approved by the four Cooperating Parties—the American Health Information Management Association, the American Hospital Association, CMS, and the National Center for Health Statistics.
A recent court ruling determined that CMS had to explain its calculation for a negative 0.2% reduction in inpatient payment rates as a result of implementing the 2-midnight rule. The court also said that providers should have an opportunity to comment on the calculation.
ICD-10 implementation has gone smoothly for approximately 80% of attendees who responded to a survey during a recent webcast from audit, tax, and advisory firm KPMG.
CMS does not require ordering providers to rewrite orders prior to ICD-10 implementation with appropriate diagnosis codes for laboratory, radiology, and other services, including durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and supplies, according to a new FAQ.
CMS finalized its proposals regarding the 2-midnight rule in the 2016 OPPS final rule, including moving responsibility for enforcement and education of the rule from Recovery Auditors to Quality Improvement Organizations (QIO). This latter change occurred October 1, 2015.
CMS released a new resource to help providers find the right contacts for ICD-10 questions involving Medicare and Medicaid claims. The resource guide and contact list provides phone numbers or email addresses for Medicare Administrative Contractors and state Medicaid offices for each state and U.S. territory.
In the first three years after implementation, incentives and penalties tied to the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program had a minimal effect on Medicare, while doing little to improve quality trends, according to a recent Government Accountability Office (GAO) report.
