Part B News | Part B News

04/01/2016

More practices are using nurse practitioners and physician assistants in new ways and the roles they fill vary widely as states continue to redefine their scope of practice. The roles of NPs and PAs are becoming more important as new models of care emerge, most notably patient-center medical homes and accountable care organizations that put an emphasis on preventive care.

Study finds patient centered medical homes costly to start and maintain

04/01/2016

A new study from the RAND Corporation suggests that converting a physician practice to a patient-centered medical home (PCHM) can be costly in terms of both start-up and long-term costs.

CMS promises major changes to meaningful use

04/01/2016

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announcement that it plans to scrap ‑ or at least radically modify ‑ the much-maligned meaningful use program was welcome news to most physician organizations. But it also raised questions about what CMS plans to do and what it means to providers who have already qualified for Stage 1 and Stage 2 meaningful use.

Studies show more patients favor email exchanges with physicians

04/01/2016

A new study found that more patients are regularly communicating with their physicians through emails and that most physicians respond to emails within 24-hours of receiving them.

5-year enrollees: Check revalidation list if your notification hasn’t arrived

03/28/2016

by: Roy Edroso

If your revalidation of Medicare enrollment is coming up, don’t rely solely on your Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) to notify you. Check CMS’ new Lookup Tool.

‘Ransomware’ case a chilling reminder of need for data security at practices

03/28/2016

by: Scott Kraft

Hollywood Presbyterian Medical Center’s recent decision to pay a $17,000 ransom in Bitcoin currency to regain access to its electronic health record (EHR) system from hackers is a nightmare scenario to any health care organization storing patient protected health information (PHI) online.

New diabetes manifestation codes among 2,670 proposed ICD-10 changes

03/28/2016

by: Part B News staff

Coders got their first look March 22 at the 2,670 proposed ICD-10-CM code changes that take effect Oct. 1, 2016, when they were issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) in a text file on its website. The final code changes will be posted on the CDC’s website later this year.

Smoking cessation services a missed opportunity for many practices

03/28/2016

by: Scott Kraft with additional reporting by Julia Kyles, CPC

Failing to document time spent on smoking cessation and providing details of the nature of the cessation services could be costing practices money for work the physicians are often doing anyway, experts tell Part B News.

Ensure coding, charge capture are not hampered by miscues in your EHR

03/28/2016

by: Richard Scott

Don’t lose revenue when you code through your electronic health record (EHR) because you might be billing for lower-level E/M services than warranted and losing out on payment for some ancillary services altogether.

Practice burglary is not an automatic HIPAA breach; look for breach evidence

03/28/2016

by: Roy Edroso

Question: If my practice is burglarized, is that automatically a security breach under HIPAA that must be reported?

Login

User Name:
Password:
Remember me Forgot password
Welcome to the new Part B News Online. If you are a returning user having trouble logging in, please click here.