Time for the annual update on Medicare’s fee schedule! Please see below for a full briefing on the legislation currently in Congress regarding a permanent solution to the flawed SGR formula that is currently on the books for adjusting the Medicare fee schedule. Under the SGR formula, physician payments were scheduled to be cut by […]
Medicare Holiday Gift: 3-Month SGR Patch Read More »
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services is encouraging the public to get vaccinated for the 2013-2014 flu season. Below is a tool that HHS released to assist individuals in finding the closest location that offers flu vaccines. If your office does not provide flu shots, you may want to encourage patients that are
HHS “Flu Vaccine Finder” for Patients to Find Nearby Vaccine Locations Read More »
Today marks the final day of October, the nationally recognized month for Breast Cancer Awareness. Of course, the whole point of the campaign is not to simply bring out our pink ribbons for a few weeks and then stow them away again until next year. Instead — we all collectively use this opportunity to remind ourselves and one
Breast Cancer Awareness: Billing & Coverage of Mammograms Read More »
Healthcare Data Management, Inc. is a proud sponsor of What’s Up Magazines’ 2013 Top Doc celebration in Annapolis, MD. Biannually, What’s Up Magazine invites local physicians to nominate their peers for the honor of “Top Doc” in each of the major American Board of Medical Specialties. This year’s celebration for the award-winning physicians was held at the Four
HDM Medical Billing: Proud Sponsors of 2013 Annapolis Top Docs Read More »
Just as the government went into partial shutdown, the ACA insurance exchanges opened on Tuesday, October 1, 2013. (You can check out Maryland’s exchange, the “Maryland Health Connection” here: https://www.marylandhealthconnection.gov/). While it is difficult to anticipate the exact effects that your practice will see from the implementation of the exchanges and the newly insured, the
Insurance Exchanges: Impact on Practices Read More »
The federal Fiscal Year 2014 began on Tuesday, October 1st, at 12:01 AM with a partial government shutdown. The Congress and the President could not – and still have not – agreed upon an appropriations bill that fully funds the operation of the federal government. As a result, hundreds of thousands of federal employees have
Federal Shutdown Will NOT Affect Medicare Payments Read More »
On August 9, 2013, CMS issued an announcement that the 2014 General Equivalence Mappings (GEMs) have been posted for diagnosis codes and for inpatient procedure codes. The GEMS show the mapping or crosswalk between ICD-9 and ICD-10, and the backward crosswalk from ICD-10 to ICD-9. While this tool certainly does not eliminate the need for
ICD-9 to ICD-10 Crosswalk (GEMs) Now Available from CMS Read More »
The U.S Preventive Services Task Force and the CDC (Centers for Disease Control) have joined in a recent call for one-time hepatitis C screening among baby boomers. The task force recommends that those born between 1945 and 1965 be screened, while the CDC encourages individuals born between 1946 and 1965 be screened. Hepatitis C affects
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced on July 3, 2013 that Medicare will not support full coverage of advanced imaging tests and PET scans intended to diagnose dementia or neurodegenerative disease. The Medicare Evidence Development & Coverage Advisory Committee determined that there is a lack of evidence as to whether PET screenings
Billing PET Scans for Dementia Diagnosis? Medicare Won’t Cover Read More »
Under the PPACA (Patient Protection & Affordable Care Act), the landmark health bill signed by President Obama in 2010, “large” employers – that is, employers with 50 employees or more – must provide health insurance for all of their full time employees. Employers must otherwise pay a $2000 penalty for each full-time employee who does
Delayed Enforcement of ACA Employer Mandate Read More »
