CMS to conduct ICD-10 claims testing for physicians in March and June On October 1, 2015, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. To help physicians prepare for this transition, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will be conducting two national testing weeks, from March 2-6 and June 1-5. 2015. These testing weeks will give trading partners access to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) and Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) for testing with real-time help desk support. While participants will not be able to conduct true end-to-end testing at ... February 26, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, ICD-10 0 0 Comment Read More »
Physicians have until Feb. 28 to review 2013 PQRS payments and penalties The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced last week that physicians who believe they received an incorrect Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) payment penalty can now use the new Look Up tool to verify information without calling the CMS Help Desk. The PQRS Look Up tool uses the same information that the CMS Help Desk accesses to verify whether a physician is subject to the 2015 PQRS payment adjustment, or if he or she should have received a 2013 PQRS incentive. To utilize the tool, physicians need to ... February 23, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, Physician Quality Reporting System, PQRS, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS announces it will work to reduce meaningful use reporting burden After repeated calls for changes from the American Medical Association (AMA), the California Medical Association (CMA) and other physician groups nationwide, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it would address the meaningful use issues raised by providers and make changes to the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program to “reduce the reporting burden, while supporting the long term goals of the program.” CMS said it would issue new rules governing the program this spring. Beginning January 1, 2015, Medicare physicians who have not ... February 5, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, EHR, Electronic Health Records, Meaningful Use, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS announces it will shorten meaningful use reporting to 90 days in 2015 After repeated calls for changes from physician groups nationwide, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced it would issue new rules this spring to shorten the meaningful use reporting period in 2015 to 90 days for providers under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record Incentive Programs. The new rule is intended to be “responsive to provider concerns about software implementation, information exchange readiness, and other related concerns in 2015,” wrote CMS Deputy Administrator and Chief Medical Officer Patrick Conway, M.D., in a blog published on the CMS ... January 30, 2015 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, EHR, Electronic Health Record, Meaningful Use, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS announces new rules to curb Medicare fraud The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced new rules will improve CMS’ ability to deny or revoke the enrollment of entities and individuals that pose a program integrity risk to Medicare. According to a press release, the “new safeguards are designed to prevent physicians and other providers with unpaid debt from re-entering Medicare and remove providers with patterns or practices of abusive billing." These changes are expected to save more than $327 million annually. CMS announced it has already removed nearly 25,000 providers from Medicare. Its strategy for ... December 16, 2014 Medicare CMS, Fraud and Abuse, Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS starts ICD-10 claims testing this week On October 1, 2015, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnoses and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets. To help physicians prepare for this transition, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) will be conducting a national testing week, from November 17 to 21, 2014. This testing week will give trading partners access to the Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) and Common Electronic Data Interchange (CEDI) for testing with real-time help desk support. While participants will not be able to conduct true end-to-end testing at this ... November 17, 2014 Medi-Cal, Medicare CMS, ICD-10, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Medicare finalizes fee schedule changes for 2015 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published its 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule Thursday in the Federal Register. The 1,200 word payment rule contains several notable changes. As earlier proposed, the rule expands the services eligible for telemedicine reimbursement and extends the new payment policies for non-face-to-face care coordination. It allows primary care physicians to be paid for care management of Medicare beneficiaries with two or more chronic conditions. These are tasks (including managing lab and imaging reports, medications and care plans in addition to talking ... November 17, 2014 Medi-Cal, Medicare , Fee Schedule, Medicare, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, CMS 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS launches Open Payments website The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today launched its Open Payments website, which allows consumers to see the financial relationships between drug and medical device manufacturers and physicians as reported under the Physician Payments Sunshine Act. The data published online contains 4.4 million payments made between August 1 and December 31, 2013, valued at nearly $3.5 billion and attributable to 546,000 individual physicians and almost 1,360 teaching hospitals. The database is divided into three categories, general payments, research payments and physicians ownership and investments. CMS says that these ... October 1, 2014 General CMS, Physician Payment Sunshine Act, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
Late program changes could mean Medicare penalties for some in 2015 The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that a small subset of physicians participating in the Medicare electronic health records (EHR) Incentive Program may get hit with Medicare penalties next year because the attestation system will not be updated with the expanded hardship exemptions before the October 1 deadline to apply for an exemption. It is uncertain how many participants are at risk, but they are affected by a narrow set of circumstances. The problem ironically stems from changes authorized in August to provide more flexibility in ... September 29, 2014 Medicare EHR, Electronic Health Record, Meaningful Use, CMS 0 0 Comment Read More »
CMS opens ICD-10 end-to-end testing to volunteers At the beginning of 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) will begin limited Medicare end–to–end testing of ICD-10 billing code submissions to ensure claims with the new codes can be processed from submission to remittance. Earlier this year, Congress pushed back the ICD-10 implementation date a year to October 1, 2015. CMS is looking for volunteers to participate in the testing the week of January 26-30, 2015. From the volunteers, CMS will select a sample of 50 participants for each Medicare Administrative Contractor to represent a broad ... September 22, 2014 Medicare CMS, ICD-10, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services 0 0 Comment Read More »
