2014 IPPS Proposed Rule: CMS focuses on quality measures, inpatient status
CMS added new quality measures and penalties for new categories of readmitted patients, emphasizing its push to improve the quality of healthcare through payment initiatives in its Inpatient...
View ArticleQ/A: Why are we hitting an edit for flushing a line?
Q: We are receiving errors on our scrubber software that we haven’t seen before. Our process is that we flush the line to ensure it is patent and then wait for pharmacy to send us the medication. They...
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CMS issues proposed rule to increase rewards for reporting of fraud and abuse
Last week, CMS issued a proposed rule that would increase incentives for people to report information that leads to a recovery of funds from individuals and entities that have or are engaged in...
View ArticleStudy: Nurses Want Help From Robots for Some Tasks
How would you feel about a robot helping you at work? If you’re like the nurses included in a new Georgia Institute of Technology study, you’d be pretty happy about it.It found that nurses preferred a...
View ArticleQ/A: Should we report low-level E/M for all infusion patients?
Q: We routinely bill a low level E/M for all patients coming into our infusion clinic. This is to cover the resources for registration, education, room set up, etc. We have a tool that maps a regular...
View ArticleKeep an eye on compliance
How robust is your facility’s compliance program? When did you last update it? Do you know how well it’s working? Several healthcare facilities have been hit with fines for attempting to defraud...
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CMS seeks public comment on defining QIO service areas
On May 2, 2013, CMS issued a request for information (RFI) notice seeking comment about how they can best organize the national cadre of Medicare Quality Improvement Organization (QIO) contractors. CMS...
View ArticleAdvanced practice nurses shouldn’t be left behind in meaningful use...
It's critical that nurse practitioners and physician assistants follow the lead of physicians and other healthcare providers in the transition to meaningful use of EHRs, according to a research brief...
View ArticleHospitals moving toward care teams
Nearly three-quarters of hospitals are implementing team-based care, according to a recent survey from the American Hospital Association (AHA). Common roles included in these teams are registered...
View ArticleQ/A: How should we report irradiated blood products?
Q: We have patients who have received a lot of blood and now the orders are for irradiated blood. We have been doing this in-house and our radiology department has been generating a charge. We just...
View Article2014 SNF Proposed Rule Analysis: Revising and rebasing the SNF market basket
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a proposed rule that is proposing to rebase and revise the SNF market basket for 2014 and subsequent years to reflect more recent...
View ArticleOvernight physicians in ICU show little effect on outcomes
Researchers have found that nighttime intensivist staffing did not significantly improve outcomes, and may increase costs unnecessarily, according to a study published in the New England Journal of...
View ArticleCNO Tech Decisions May Fail to Meet Staff Nurse Needs
According to researchers, the clinical communications decisions that CNOs make may not necessarily reflect the working realities of staff nurses. An American Nurse Today and Voalte survey finds that...
View ArticleQ/A: Should we use modifier -Q0 to override edits for ICDs?
Q: We are hitting an edit for claims containing the codes for placement of implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) and Bi-V ICD systems. The edit states we must report certain diagnoses;...
View ArticleQuestions surround when time starts for proposed inpatient presumption
By Michelle A. Leppert, CPCThe proposed CMS presumption for inpatient admission includes an interesting nuance that could spell the end of dedicated observation units. According to CMS, the starting...
View ArticleQAPI is coming: Is your facility preparing for its arrival?
Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has been working to address a specific provision-Section 6012(c)-that requires it to establish...
View ArticleNew Legislation Would Give Nurses Strong Voice in Staffing Decisions
Many nurses feel like they don’t have a voice in major decisions in their hospitals, but newly introduced legislation is looking to change that. The Registered Nurse Safe Staffing Act of 2013, which...
View ArticleQ&A: Is CMS now accepting rubber stamp signatures?
Q: One of the physicians who practices here says that CMS is allowing rubber stamp signatures again and he wants us to lift our ban of stamps. Transmittal 327 and several of our FI/MAC’s articles...
View ArticleDangers of reporting costs improperly
By Michelle A. Leppert, CPCProviders setting charges based on an understanding of their costs is not a new concept, says Jugna Shah, MPH, president and founder of Nimitt Consulting. But if providers...
View ArticleDiving In Deeper: MDS 3.0 RAI User's Manual Update
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released a revised version of the MDS 3.0 Resident Assessment Instrument (RAI) User’s Manual. Let’s take an in-depth look at the changes,...
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