Familiarize yourself with the two designated tracks of MACRA — MIPS or APM, understand the potential financial upside and downside of MIPS participation & identify next steps within your practice to comply with these regulations with this helpful Webinar provided by Welter Healthcare Partners!nn nn
On June 11, the CDC posted the Release of the 2019 ICD-10-CM codes for download in both XML and PDF formats. The 2019 update includes a total of 473 code changes, including additions, deletions, and revisions to the code set. nnMany of the new codes added to the code set are external cause codes to describe exploitation of children and adults in the form of psychological abuse, bullying and intimidation, forced sexual exploitation, or forced labor exploitation. These code changes are effective October 1, 2018 and will be used through September 30, 2019.nnThe codes were requested by several hospitals, which are seeing an increase in human trafficking cases and finding they don’t have ICD-10-CM codes adequate to differentiate these victims from other abuse victims. CDC is adding new T codes to report for cases of suspected and confirmed exploitation of children as well as adults. In addition, there are new encounter Z codes added to Chapter 21 for examination and observation of human trafficking victims.nnAs originally proposed, a go-to code for an infected surgical wound, T81.4xxA, is among the 51 codes that are set to be deleted. In its place, coders will have 15 additional codes added to an expanded T81.4- subcategory that will allow them to more accurately report the depth of the infection.n
nThis article was originally posted on blogs.hcpro.com
The month-long window is the shortest turnaround from a state and doesn’t exempt the healthcare sector, effectively giving Colorado providers just half the time required by HIPAA to report. Check out the article for more information! nnColorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed into law expansive consumer data legislation that mandates all organizations report breaches within 30 days, making it the shortest turnaround for any state.nnThere are no exemptions from the notification rule, meaning healthcare organizations must report within 30 days — half the time required by HIPAA. The legislation updates the state’s current notification language that states notification must happen without “reasonable delay.”nnIntroduced in January, the bill unanimously passed in the State House Committee. The aim is to drastically improve privacy and security for all organizations within the state.nnThe legislation overlaps with HIPAA requirements, as lawmakers added medical and health insurance identification data to the types of information covered by the law.nnAnd if there’s “a conflict between the time period for notice to individuals [under Colorado law or federal regulation or law], the law or regulation with the shortest time frame for notice to the individual controls,” the bill states.n
nThis article was originally posted on healthcareitnews.com
For the most part, providers support the Direct Provider Contracting proposal put forward by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, with some stipulations and considerable tweaking. Check out the article, below, for more information! nnKey stakeholders are mostly supportive of a Medicare Direct Provider Contracting proposal but urging the federal government to keep it simple and not overwhelm providers with paperwork.nn“Burden reduction must be a priority for the Innovation Center when implementing the DPC model,” the Medical Group Management Association said in a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.nn“Collecting and reporting quality metrics remain technically challenging, data intensive, and administratively burdensome,” MGMA said. “Bureaucratic barriers to care, including prior authorization and appropriate use criteria, are at odds with care delivery and financial models in which participants are accountable for care outcomes.”nnThat concern was echoed byThe American Geriatrics Society, which urged that “CMS take care not to add further administrative burdens that may negatively impact patient care.”nnThe National Association of Accountable Care Organization supports the DPC concept, but urged CMS to limit participation to primary care providers for the rollout.nn“Primary care is more appropriate for this type of model, and specialty DPC Models would be too similar to bundled payment programs,” NAACOS said. “Further, it would be much more complicated to structure per beneficiary per month payments for specialty care which is typically more complex and can include episodes of care with greater variation in clinical conditions, treatment protocols and related costs.”n
nThis article was originally posted on healthleadersmedia.com
nnAlthough physicians are admired for mastering medical knowledge, keeping up with the flood of medical information can lead to anxiety and self-doubt. Check out some steps to help curb clinician burnout! nn3. Measuring the clinician experiencennAddressing burnout requires collecting data on multiple measures, the report says.nn”Leaders focused on reducing burnout and improving resilience in the clinician workforce should be prepared to measure engagement with sufficient thoroughness and frequency that the data allow segmentation, benchmarking and detection of change.”nnPress Ganey has developed an eight-point assessment tool to measure clinician resilience. The first four questions gauge capacity to disengage from work:n
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nThe last four questions in the assessment tool measure engagement with work.n
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n4. Designing interventionsnnThe report says there are four steps to developing an organization strategy for enhancing resilience and decreasing burnout:n
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nThis article was originally posted on healthleadersmedia.com
The Know Your Legal Rights database was launched by The Colorado Medical Society and others to help give you the knowledge about how to protect your patients from illegal practices. Keep reading, below, for more information on the Know Your Legal Rights database! nnThe Colorado Medical Society and component medical societies are pleased to launch the Know Your Legal Rights database, an online, searchable compilation of all of the Colorado laws in place to protect you and your patients from unfair, predatory and unscrupulous – not to mention illegal – practices.nnThese physician protections have been secured through more than a decade of hard-hitting advocacy by CMS and our allies in the General Assembly and the rule-setting process, but many physicians are unaware that these laws exist or how to find and use them. Now, CMS members are just a keystroke from knowing the legal tools at your disposal and how to use them effectively. It’s your instant guide to Colorado physicians’ legal rights.nnTo access the Know Your Legal Rights database, go to www.cms.org/kylr. You’ll need to sign in with your CMS username and password. (CMS.org accounts are automatically created for all members. If this is your first time logging in, follow the “activate” link on the login page. If you need help, contact membership@cms.org.) Once logged in, scroll through the topic list or enter keywords in the search bar at the top of the page to find laws relevant to your issue, a summary of the law and details about how the law affects physicians. The exact references are available in the sidebar of each entry.nnCLICK HERE TO READ MOREnnThis article was originally posted on cms.org