The U.S. healthcare industry has been undergoing a total revamp for the past few years. A significant development was the introduction of Affordable Care Act (ACA), which increased the number of insured Americans and healthcare opportunities. Now, the healthcare...
Articles
Solutions to Mitigate Rising Dialysis Costs
Kidney disease is a growing concern among the U.S. people. As per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 10% of adults (more than 20 million people) in the United States may have Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) with varying levels of seriousness. The chances of...
How Extending Medicaid Raise Affects Patient Inflow and Billing
During the last week of July, two senators introduced a bill that would extend Medicaid payment boost for primary care physicians (PCPs) for another two years through 2016. Though this will give clinicians an opportunity to make extra income, they will have to...
Cardiovascular Disease Still a Major Health Risk
Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are among the most serious and fatal disorders affecting Americans. CVD disorders affect the heart or blood vessels. Stroke, IHD (ischemic heart disease), RHD (rheumatic heart disease), congenital heart disease, hypertensive heart...
A Detailed Analysis of the Next Generation ACO Model
Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) comprise groups of doctors, hospitals and other healthcare providers and suppliers who work collaboratively to provide coordinated, high-quality care and chronic disease management at lower costs to their Original...
Balance Billing – ACA Impact and Challenges
Balance billing occurs when healthcare providers bill their patients for charges other than copayments, coinsurance or any amount that may remain on annual deductible. Though in-network providers are prohibited from engaging in this practice, some out-of-network...
Modifier -59 Reporting Change – A Detailed View
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has made a significant change in the reporting of modifier -59, which will have considerable impact on medical coding in 2015. A new set of specific HCPCS modifiers has been introduced to selectively identify subsets of...
U.S. House Subcommittee Reviewed ICD-10 Transition Readiness
The Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Health discussed the ICD-10 coding system implementation date, October 1, 2015 with the representatives of the healthcare industry during a hearing held on February 11, 2015. One of the major facts raised was that implementing...
Billing for Testosterone Shot
A study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism at the beginning of this year points out that an increasing number of older and middle-aged men in the United States are being tested for low testosterone levels and being prescribed...
How to Remain Productive during the ICD-10 Transition
With the latest deferment of ICD-10 codes implementation to October 1, 2015, healthcare facilities and systems have additional time for the adoption of the new system. There must be a good strategy to retain and encourage the coders, as money has been invested for the...