Oct 18, 2017 | Uncategorized
WASHINGTON — President Trump reversed course Wednesday and threw cold water on a new bipartisan congressional health care plan designed to maintain subsidies for health insurance exchanges, thereby temporarily propping up the Affordable Care Act.nnA day after signaling support for the plan developed by Sens. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., and Patty Murray, D-Wash., Trump tweeted Wednesday that the deal might benefit insurance companies too much.nnAlexander, in a series of tweets Wednesday, indicated the deal may still have a chance. After getting a phone call from Trump, he wrote that he agrees the subsidies should benefit consumers and not insurers.nn”The Alexander-Murray agreement has strong language to do that, and I will work with the president to see if we can make it even stronger,” Alexander tweeted.nnMurray and Alexander have been drafting a bill for several months to boost the insurance marketplace, but the effort took on new urgency last week when Trump announced he would no longer fund the subsidies without congressional action.nnWhile House and Senate Democratic leaders said they support the compromise, Republican leaders aren’t eager to bring it to the floor for a vote.nnHouse Speaker Paul Ryan’s press secretary, Doug Andres, said in a Wednesday statement, “The speaker does not see anything that changes his view that the Senate should keep its focus on repeal and replace of Obamacare.”nnOn Tuesday, Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., told reporters, “We haven’t had a chance to think about the way forward yet.”nnRegardless of Trump’s position, the deal’s Senate supporters will pursue an even number of bipartisan cosponsors to help build pressure for a vote, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York told reporters Wednesday.nn”I spoke to Senator Alexander this morning, and I encouraged him, ‘Let’s go forward, period,’ and he’s game,” Schumer said. Once cosponsors are lined up, Schumer said he’ll ask McConnell for a vote.nn”If that happened, I would be quite certain it would pass…and then there would be pressure on the House,” he said. “If the president will come out strongly for the bill and stick to that, that will help us get it through the House.”nnAlexander also said Trump and the House will have to consider the agreement once more senators are on board.n
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nThis article originally posted on usatoday.com.
Oct 12, 2017 | Uncategorized
Physician practices may begin data collection as late as December 31 and still avoid the negative payment adjustment.nnOctober 2, 2017, marked practices’ deadline to begin collecting data for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (CMS) “pick your pace” option two under the merit-based incentive-payment system (MIPS) track of the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA).nnFor this transition year of the Quality Payment Program under MIPS, practices can participate in one of three ways:n
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- Submit data covering a full year
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- Submit data covering at least a consecutive 90-day period (avoid negative adjustment and possibly become eligible for a positive payment adjustment)
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- Submit a minimum amount of data (<90 days) (doctors may submit just one day of data to avoid a pay cut in 2019 for 2017 performance, but more data boosts odds of bonus)
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nTherefore, practices can begin data collection as late as December 31, 2017, and still avoid the negative payment adjustment, CMS advised. However, more data increases one’s likelihood of earning a positive payment adjustment.nnPhysicians must submit their 2017 MIPS performance data from January 2, 2018, to March 31, 2018. CMS will cut Medicare pay 4% in 2019 for doctors who do not submit data during that time.nnThis article originally posted on healthleadersmedia.com.
Oct 10, 2017 | Uncategorized
As most medical practices are aware, not all cases are easy to navigate using the latest medical standards. The information below highlights a complicated cardio surgical case with an detailed cardio case, correct CPT and ICD-10 codes. Do you have a complicated surgery case need help with coding? Welter Healthcare Partners would love to help! please upload the operative note by clicking on the link below. Remember to remove ALL patient protected health information and organization identifiers. Welter Healthcare Partners will not use any medical records submitted in which PHI is not removed and protected. Click Here To Submit Redacted Surgery Case Study. Click Here To Submit Redacted Surgery Case Studynn
nn nnPROCEDURES:n
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- Left heart catheterization.
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- Left ventricular angiography.
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- Bilateral selective coronary artery angiography.
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- Coronary artery bypass graft angiography x3.
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- Coronary artery disease.
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nINDICATIONS:n
Prop for tricuspid valve surgery.
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Click Here to View Full Case
n nnCorrect CPT and ICD-10 Codes with modifiers and units:nn93459 (26 modifier) – Catheter placement in coronary artery(s) for coronary angiography, including intraprocedural injection(s) for coronary angiography, imaging supervision and interpretation; with left heart catheterization including intraprocedural injection(s) for left ventriculography, when performed, catheter placement(s) in bypass graft(s) (internal mammary, free arterial, venous grafts) with bypass graft angiographynnI25.10 – Atherosclerotic heart disease of native coronary artery without angina pectorisnI25.82 – Chronic total occlusion of coronary arterynI07.1 – Rheumatic tricuspid insufficiency
Oct 4, 2017 | Uncategorized
As most medical practices are aware, not all cases are easy to navigate using the latest medical standards. The information below highlights a complicated cardio surgical case with an detailed cardio case, correct CPT and ICD-10 codes. Do you have a complicated surgery case need help with coding? Welter Healthcare Partners would love to help! please upload the operative note by clicking on the link below. Remember to remove ALL patient protected health information and organization identifiers. Welter Healthcare Partners will not use any medical records submitted in which PHI is not removed and protected. Click Here To Submit Redacted Surgery Case Study. Click Here To Submit Redacted Surgery Case Studynn
nn nnPROCEDURES:n
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- Left heart catheterization.
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- Left ventricular angiography.
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- Bilateral selective coronary artery angiography.
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- Coronary artery bypass graft angiography x3.
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- Coronary artery disease.
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nINDICATIONS:n
Prop for tricuspid valve surgery.
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Click Here to View Full Case
n nnCorrect CPT and ICD-10 Codes with modifiers and units:nn93459 (26 modifier) – Catheter placement in coronary artery(s) for coronary angiography, including intraprocedural injection(s) for coronary angiography, imaging supervision and interpretation; with left heart catheterization including intraprocedural injection(s) for left ventriculography, when performed, catheter placement(s) in bypass graft(s) (internal mammary, free arterial, venous grafts) with bypass graft angiographynnI25.10 – Atherosclerotic heart disease of native coronary artery without angina pectorisnI25.82 – Chronic total occlusion of coronary arterynI07.1 – Rheumatic tricuspid insufficiency
Sep 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
With the implementation of QPP, the deadline for submitting 2017 performance data is approaching fast! Eligible providers can submit performance data for dates of service starting on January 1, 2017 – October 2, 2017. Data submission to CMS must be done by March 31, 2018.nnIf your practice chooses not to submit data for 2017 reporting, then you will receive a negative 4% payment adjustment. If your practice submits the minimum data required for 2017 reporting, you can avoid the negative adjustment and receive a neutral adjustment. If your practice submits partial data required for 2017, which is 90 days of 2017 data, you will receive either a neutral or positive adjustment depending on your performance. If your practice submits a full year of data for 2017, you may receive up to a 4% positive payment adjustment, again depending on your performance. The first payment adjustments based on performance go into effect on January 1, 2019.n
CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A CASE STUDY TO THE SURGERY CODING SERIES!
Sep 27, 2017 | Uncategorized
2018 ICD-10 updates will soon go into effect on October 1st. These changes will impact encounters for dates of service October 1, 2017 through September 30, 2018. It is imperative that your organization has up-to-date coding resources and a keen understanding of the changes that will impact your reimbursement!nnThis year’s ICD-10 updates include 363 new codes, 142 deleted codes, and 250 code revisions.nnHere are notable highlights of the 2018 updates:n
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- New musculoskeletal chapter codes to represent lumbar stenosis with or without neurogenic claudication
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- New neoplasm chapter codes to identify all types of mast cell neoplasms, such as: malignant mast cell neoplasm, aggressive systemic mastocytosis, mast cell sarcoma, and other types.
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- 72 new codes to identify non-pressure chronic ulcers that have penetrated muscle and bone tissue without necrosis
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- New endocrine chapter codes to identify diabetes mellitus with ketoacidosis
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- Myocardial Infarction codes now include specificity for type 1, type 2, and “other” MIs
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- Two new subcategories have been created for heart failure to include specificity for right heart failure as well as chronicity, right heart failure due to left heart failure, biventricular heart failure, high output heart failure, and end-stage heart failure
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- 17 new antenatal screening codes to identify specific screenings administered to pregnant patients, including testing for fetal growth retardation and chromosomal abnormalities
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- New convention update regarding the use of the term “with.” The convention now specifies that, when another existing Guideline specifically requires a documented linkage between two conditions, the word “with” does not suffice. Providers will have to make it clear within their clinical documentation the cause-and-effect relationship between conditions that are related.
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- Updates to the mental health chapter include explanatory information regarding substance abuse remission codes to include specificity for severity (i.e. mild, moderate, severe) in an effort to better align ICD-10-CM with the APA’s DSM-5
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n*Please note this list is not all-inclusive. Click here for a comprehensive list of all 2018 changes available at the CMS website.
