Exceptional Coders | Innovative Technology

By optimizing revenue healthcare, organizations can put themselves in a position to survive and thrive in the modern marketplace of shrinking margins, consumer engagement, and higher cost pressures. This is true whether you are affiliated with billing companies, hospitals, physician practices, or payers. One of the most important ways to optimize revenue is by ensuring accuracy and efficiency in medical coding and documentation.

As the share of Medicare beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Advantage has steadily grown to over 19 million beneficiaries according to a U.S. Attorney, federal prosecutors intervening in a newly unsealed whistleblower lawsuit in California is yet another example of the government's willingness to protect the integrity of the Medicare Advantage program through the courts.

Revenue cycle issues such as coding, charge capture, and denials management are among the top risk areas for healthcare organizations in 2019, according to a report from Crowe, a public accounting, consulting and technology firm.

Coordinated Health and its founder and CEO entered recently into an agreement with the federal government to settle False Claims Act allegations, according to the Department of Justice. The health system will pay $11.25 million and founder and CEO Emil Dilorio, MD will pay $1.25 million to settle the allegations. In addition to the monetary settlement, the system entered into a corporate integrity agreement with HHS that will require monitoring of its billing practices for five years.

Healthcare IT Analytics reported recently that healthcare executives are on the hunt for improved data analytics, and many are turning to clinical documentation improvement programs to enhance data quality and integrity. Healthcare organizations looking to improve the quality of their data assets are actively seeking ways to leverage data for clinical analytics and population health management, according to a new poll from Black Book.

Whether you are coding with domestic staff or offshore staff, the quality of medical coding is dependent on the rigors of the quality assurance program you have in place, not where your coders reside or work.  A 95 percent coding quality standard is the same regardless of the choice of locale when applied equally.

Modern Healthcare reported recently that DaVita Medical Holdings will pay a $270 million settlement to the federal government over allegations that the company incorrectly inflated certain Medicare Advantage reimbursements above the fixed, risk-adjusted rate owed for care.

In mid-September, healthcare revenue cycle and information technology executives gathered in Chicago to discuss the evolving nature of the hospital and health system revenue cycle and how they are responding to its challenges, disruptions and priorities according to Becker’s Hospital Review. The conversation was part of Becker's Hospital Review 4th Annual Health IT + Revenue Cycle Conference.

 The American Medical Association (AMA) announced in early September the release of the 2019  Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set. There are 335 code changes in the new CPT edition reflecting the CPT Editorial Panel and the health care community’s combined annual effort to capture and describe the latest scientific and technological advances in medical, surgical and diagnostic services.

Beyond the Affordable Care Act, regulatory changes and legislative acts will reduce hospital payments by over $218 billion by 2028, a new report from the health economics consulting firm Dobson | DaVanzo and Associates revealed.