This April, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed a rule that would bring significant modifications to meaningful use (MU) in 2015 through 2017. As per CMS, the proposed rule aims at reducing reporting requirements and enabling participants to...
Fundamentals of Coding Vaccine Administration
Coding and billing vaccine administration in an outpatient setting is challenging because vaccine codes are based on several factors, with different codes for Medicare and private health plans. Medicare coverage on a routine basis is available only for a few vaccines....
ICD-10 Changes for Primary Care and its Benefits
ICD-10 with its increased specificity ensures more accurate data and better patient care as a result. The new coding system will allow primary care physicians to document chronic conditions and other common diagnoses more accurately. Here we examine some of the major...
EHRs Can Predict the Risk of Sepsis at an Early Stage, Says UC Davis Researchers
As per the National Institute of Health (NIH), around 750, 000 Americans are affected by severe sepsis every year and around 210, 000 of these people die. The major impediment to providing treatment for sepsis is that it is very hard to distinguish the disease in its...
Autism Screening and Diagnosis – Early Intervention Is Important
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a range of intricate neurodevelopmental disorders characterized by difficulties in communication, social impairments, and repetitive stereotyped behavioral patterns. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that...
National Walk for Epilepsy 2015 – An Initiative to Raise Funds for Epilepsy Research
Epilepsy (also referred to as "fits”) is a serious neurological disorder in which the central nerve cells in the brain work abnormally causing seizures. According to 2014 statistics, approximately 2.2 million people have this condition in the United States. It is...
AMA Issues Resources to Help Physicians Address the Risks Associated with Grace Period Rule
The American Medical Association (AMA) announced new resources that will help physicians to overcome the financial risks associated with grace period rule in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). This rule was published by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...
Health Insurance Coverage and Care – The Shifting Landscape
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) was implemented to enable easier and more effective healthcare access to millions of Americans. Presently, the health insurance marketplace is witnessing significant changes as this domain has become increasingly...
High Risk of Cardiovascular Disease in Women with Migraine
Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is the number one killer of both men and women in the United States. About 600,000 people die due to heart disease every year, that is, 1 in every 4 deaths. A new research shows that women who suffer from migraine are 1.52 times more...
Cleaning Up Your Accounts Receivable (A/R) for the Coming Year
As the New Year is fast approaching, it is very important to clean up your account receivables (A/R) to improve your medical billing and coding process and increase year-end collections. This will also help you refresh the records for the coming year, keep the records...