PRESS RELEASE DoctorsManagement, LLC Announces Acquisition of Rose Shattuck and Associates Knoxville, Tennessee, May 14, 2018 Healthcare consulting firm DoctorsManagement announced today the acquisition of Rose Shattuck and Associates (RSA), a healthcare consulting firm based in Raleigh, North Carolina. DoctorsManagement has acquired RSA’s assets and customer contracts and the merged businesses will operate under the...
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Why the Scoring Mechanisms of Medical Decision-Making are Flawed By Shannon DeConda| May 10, 2018 The scoring mechanisms of the MDM are suggested tools, not rules or laws. In our last article we explored how time in conjunction with medical decision-making (MDM) must support the same level of service, and why that rule makes sense....
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CMS eases teaching physician documentation rules Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA Director of Content CMS recently released a transmittal tweaking its requirements for teaching physicians to bill for services that involve medical students (not residents, who have earned their MDs). The move is intended to make it easier for the teaching or attending physician to sign...
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Employee handbooks: A sword or shield? Philip Dickey, MPH, PHR, SHRM-CP Partner, Director of Human Resources Why have an employee handbook? One common mistake by some doctors is failing to realize the need for well‑defined practice policies. Too often, doctors simply allow practice policies to evolve. Policies and procedures created on an ad hoc basis...
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UnitedHealthcare cracks down on level 4, 5 ED codes Providers who submit claims to UnitedHealthcare (UHC) have begun seeing a dramatic change in coding policy, with all facility emergency department (ED) visits coded at level 4 or level 5 undergoing review for adjustment or outright denial. The new policy took effect March 1 and affects...
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CMS begins issuing new Medicare ID cards to all beneficiaries Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA Director of Content You’ve probably begun seeing patients who present your front desk with shiny new Medicare ID cards that no longer use Social Security Numbers (SSNs). CMS will begin mailing the new ID cards on April 1. The new cards...
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Fostering a culture of compliance in 2018 and beyond Sean Weiss, CPC, CPC-P, CPMA, CCP-P, CMCO, ACS-EM Partner, VP and Chief Compliance Officer This year (2018) healthcare organizations must focus on creating a culture of compliance to ensure effectiveness and efficiency. Focusing only on “compliance” leaves practices and hospitals exposed to areas of liability, often far...
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Not so voluntary: MedPAC’s MIPS replacement analyzed Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA Director of Content You wouldn’t have to worry about the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) if a top Congressional advisory group and the President of the United States had their way, but would you actually want the proposed replacement for MIPS? Remember: The Medicare Payment...
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Budget bill kills therapy cap, clarifies Stark law Grant Huang, CPC, CPMA Director of Content The Medicare therapy cap has been permanently repealed as part of the budget bill passed in February to keep the federal government funded until March 23. For healthcare providers, the provisions that had nothing to do with the federal budget...
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Analysis: Impact of the Trump tax cut Blake King, CPA, MAcc, MT, CVA Partner, Director of Accounting On Dec. 22, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017 (TCJA) was passed in to law. The TCJA represents the biggest change to our tax system since 1986. At over 500 pages, it is without question complex,...
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