E66.01 — Other obesity due to excess caloriesnnZ68.38 — Body mass index (BMI) 38.0-38.9, adultnnZ72.3 — Lack of physical exercisennZ72.4 — Inappropriate diet and eating habitsnn
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced this week that it will be ending the “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program in 2016.nnThe announcement—delivered by CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt in a speech at a J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Tuesday—follows months of requests from physician and other health stakeholder groups to slow the program down and loosen its requirements.nnCMS had announced stage 3 meaningful use guidelines in October which followed a series of proposed changes to the program, including payment adjustments and the creation of hardship exemptions.nnIn remarks at the J.P. Morgan conference and on Twitter, Slavitt said further specifics on exactly what will replace meaningful use will be forthcoming, though it will be tied to the implementation of Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA) and include streamlining various quality reporting programs.nn“The meaningful use program as it has existed will now be effectively over and replaced with something better,” Slavitt said, according to a transcript of his speech. “Since late last year we have been working side by side with physician organizations across many communities—including with great advocacy from the AMA—and have listened to the needs and concerns of many. We will be putting out the details on this next stage over the next few months, but I will give you themes guiding our implementation.”nn
One of those themes focuses on shifting away from rewarding providers for the use of technology and instead centers on achieving better outcomes. He said CMS wants to offer providers the ability to customize “their goals so tech companies can build around the individual practice needs, not the needs of the government,” Slavitt said.nnAccording to Aaron Albright, director of media relations at CMS, Slavitt’s announcement is consistent with what CMS announced in the stage 3 final rule in October.nnAt that time, CMS stated that: “This rule moves us beyond the staged approach of ‘meaningful use’ by 2018 and helps us collectively move forward to a system based on the quality of care delivered, as opposed to quantity. We will use this feedback to inform future policy developments for the EHR Incentive Programs, as well as consider it during rulemaking to implement MACRA, which we expect to release in the spring of 2016 and other rulemaking as appropriate.”nnWhat remains to be seen, however, is whether CMS will still penalize eligible providers for not meeting stage 1 meaningful use requirements, or whether eligible providers should even bother continuing to track their progress on the meaningful use measures for reporting this year. Albright declined to respond to those questions at press time.nnThis article originally posted on AHIMA.org.
We have been saying it for years. Value Based Contracting is coming and in many markets it is here…and it is here to stay! nnIt is not a bad thing as long as it is transparent! Follow the money, if you cannot you should not sign the agreement! As in all economic transactions, both sides (all sides) need to be able to see and understand very clearly how it works. There are two messages here: 1) Value Based Contracting is a Market Solution – it is not and cannot be a ‘one-off’ solution where one practice or small group has a great idea and wants to keep it even semi-exclusive. Think BIG and solve BIG problems! 2) Physicians need to work together! That collaboration gene was beaten out of many docs through the battle to get into and out of medical school, getting the best residency and fellowship. We need it back! There is nothing more powerful and exciting than docs working together to solve the problems we have in health care. The smartest guys in the room have to work together and they need to take back their natural position as Leaders!nn
nn
About R. Todd Welter • MS, CPCnFounder and President of Welter Healthcare PartnersnMr. Welter has over 25 years of healthcare industry experience assisting physicians and other providers, hospitals and other facilities with the business side of medicine. Through strategic planning and analysis, Mr. Welter’s main focus is to strategically increase revenues and profitability in this radically changing health care environment. Mr. Welter has a Masters Degree in Organizational Leadership from Regis University in Denver where he has had an appointment as affiliate faculty in the School for Professional Studies for over ten years. In addition, Mr. Welter holds a faculty appointment at the University of Denver’s University College. In the Health Care Leadership program he teaches Macro Economics in Health Care and Innovative Strategies and Change in Health Care to graduate students.
S30.876A – Insect bite (nonvenomous) of anus, initial encounternnY93.K1 – Activity, walking an animalnnY92.480 – Sidewalk as the place of occurrence of the external causenn
The PUSH program:nICD-10 Performance Measures: Ensure Success!nThe ICD-10 PUSH program was designed to evaluate provider performance with the ICD-10-CM code set. This program will assist in identifying utilization and accuracy as well as areas for improvement related to ICD-10.nnPost ICD-10 Implementation Evaluation:n
n
n
n
nICD-10 Education and Training:n
n
n
nICD-10 Reinforcement Services (when needed):n
n
n
n
n
n
n
n
nICD-10 implementation date was October 1, 2015. ICD-10 will bring monumental changes to all physicians, practices, hospitals and healthcare vendors and entities. Organizations that fail to properly prepare for this transition will see claims denials, decrease in revenues, decreased coder productivity and significant cash flow issues!nnDo not delay, get started now! Our ICD-10 training and workshops are presented by an AHIMA-Approved ICD-10-CM/PCS Trainers and will help you start preparation efforts and put your organization on the right track for a successful implementation.n