CMSis delaying for two years implementation of E/Mcoding reforms that affect physician payment, in a move applauded by theAmerican Medical Association.The final 2019 physician fee schedule andquality payment program rule also includes updates on interoperability, telehealth and drug costs.
More than 80,000 Americans died of the flu in the winter of 2017-2018, the highest number in over a decade, federal health officials said last week.Although 90 percent of those deaths were in people over age 65, the flu alsokilled180youngchildrenandteenagers, more than in any other year since the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention began using its current surveillance methods.
Ohio is a step closer to forcing some Medicaid recipients to get jobs if they receive the government assistance.The Ohio Department of Medicaid on Monday said it had officially submitted its request to create the work requirements for those covered through the expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program that covers residents with low incomes or disabilities.
Ohio is a step closer to forcing some Medicaid recipients to get jobs if they receive the government assistance.The Ohio Department of Medicaid on Monday said it had officially submitted its request to create the work requirements for those covered through the expansion of Medicaid, the state-federal health insurance program that covers residents with low incomes or disabilities.
The AMA, along with national physician specialty societies, recently sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) asking that the 2018 Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) reporting period be reduced from a full calendar year to a minimum of 90 consecutive days. That should happen because of a lack of timely and direct notification about whether a physician is considered MIPS-eligible.
Industry InsightsMIPS: Transition Year vs. Full ReportingInsightsIf you think the new Quality Payment is easy, it may be because we are in the transition year. CMS has made 2017 a transition year to get practices up to speed with the new requirements. This year you only need to report the bare minimum to avoid the […]
Industry InsightsMIPS: Choosing the Right Quality Measures for Your Practice InsightsNow that we have covered the basics of MIPS (read here), let’s get into the main focus- how to choose the right quality measures for your practice. Even if you do not plan on fully participating this year, you will need to in 2018. Picking […]
It seems like the end of the 2015 PQRS reporting period wasn’t that long ago, with registries concluding their submission process on March 31st. But we are now more than halfway through 2016 with the end of the service year in sight. CMS will begin accepting PQRS submissions after December 31st. With a PQRS registry’s help, practices can start the reporting process and finish their submission any time before the March 31st, 2017 deadline.
If all of the talk about PQRS, MIPS, APMsQRURsand MACRA have you feeling dazed and confused, you are not alone! The healthcare market is abuzz with lots of initials and abbreviations lately and understanding all of these is key to comprehending the physician payment models of the future.
Fifty years ago, Avedis Donabedian, MD, MPH, of the University of Michigan, published his seminal paper, “Evaluating the Quality of Medical Care,” and created a framework that is still used tomeasurehealthcarequality. Donabedian divided quality measures into three categories: structure, processes and outcomes.