Part B News | Part B News

Budget reconciliation primes ACA repeal; Senate committee grills HHS nominee Price

01/23/2017

With the new administration bringing expected change to health care, Part B News is keeping track of the pertinent updates. Take note of these recent regulatory developments.

4 tips to prepare your EHR, other health IT for a more profitable MIPS

01/23/2017

by: Roy Edroso

Do some simple prep with your electronic health records (EHR) to maximize your chances of success under the merit-based incentive payment system (MIPS).

New code bundles target prolonged services, smoking cessation and more

01/23/2017

by: Richard Scott

Take stock of newly bundled code pairs involving non-face-to-face prolonged services, smoking-cessation codes and others that are part of the Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) version 23.0 edits, effective Jan. 1.

CCI version 23.0 scorecard

01/23/2017

by: Richard Scott

Take a closer look at the more than 150,000 edits contained in the Correct Coding Initiative's version 23.0 update, including 99,000 new code pairs.

Don’t hide behind HIPAA: Know when you can share patient info

01/23/2017

by: Richard Scott

You can share a patient’s health information with a friend, relative or other person — not just the patient’s spouse — provided you exercise due judgment in relaying the information.

If NPP’s not yet enrolled in Medicare, only do incident-to billing

01/23/2017

by: Roy Edroso

Question: We have a nurse practitioner (NP) starting who is not yet credentialed but is shadowing our doctors for both her and them to get comfortable with her and the process of the office. One of our doctors is letting her do procedures while she is in the room with her and the NP is dictating the visit, but we will be billing under the doctor. Is this allowed?

Brief: Social media quiz helps nurses avoid HIPAA violations

01/23/2017

by: DecisionHealth Staff

The National Council of State Boards of Nursing created a social media quiz to help nurses understand the scope of patient privacy and nurses’ obligations when using social and electronic media.

Brief: Employers move to new I-9 form

01/23/2017

by: DecisionHealth Staff

The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services has updated the employment eligibility verification form, known as the I-9 form.

Brief: Quest Diagnostics’ patient portal is the door to a massive breach

01/23/2017

by: DecisionHealth Staff

The international lab company announced Dec. 12 that an unauthorized third party accessed the MyQuest by Care360® patient portal and “obtained protected health information (PHI) of approximately 34,000 individuals” on Nov. 26, 2016.

Lab tests without proper documentation, undercoded E/M cause improper payments

01/23/2017

by: Roy Edroso

The list of Part B services with the most improper payments estimated by CMS for 2016 includes some of your most-billed services, according to data from the Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program and other sources and published annually in the Medicare Fee-for-Service Improper Payments Report. Note that failure to establish medical necessity isn’t usually a factor; the mistake is more likely due to a coding error or a shortfall in documentation.

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