Obamacare

CMS Drops Two-Midnight Rule’s Inpatient Payment Cuts

By Virgil Dickson for Modern Healthcare The CMS will not continue to impose an inpatient payment cut to hospitals under the two-midnight rule following ongoing industry criticism and a legal challenge. It will provide a onetime bump to hospitals to offset the cuts. The agency imposed the cut because it estimated the two midnight policy would…

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Justice Scalia’s Death Leaves Healthcare Cases in Limbo

By Lisa Schencker and Adam Rubenfire for Modern Healthcare The death of U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia, who famously said the Affordable Care Act should be called “SCOTUScare,” leaves in limbo a number of healthcare-related cases. The news also quickly sparked a debate over who would replace him amid the presidential campaign. Scalia died Friday,…

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2016 Election Candidates’ Stances on Health Care

By Matt O’Connor for (H&HN) Hospitals & Health Networks Here are the 8 presidential election candidates’ stances on health care, taken directly from their websites. Jeb Bush: Website ObamaCare is a government takeover of more than one-sixth of the American economy, and it epitomizes why Americans are so fed up with Washington. To win on repeal, conservatives…

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Did Healthcare Policy Issues Play a Role in the Iowa Presidential Caucus Results?

By Harris Meyer for Modern Healthcare After attacking Donald Trump over the weekend for his previous favorable remarks about single-payer healthcare, Texas Sen. Ted Cruz squeaked out a victory over the billionaire New York developer in the Iowa presidential caucuses Monday night, with Florida Sen. Marco Rubio trailing close behind. Meanwhile, the Iowa Democratic Party declared…

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The Essentials of Medical Necessity

By Laurie Desjardins, CPC-I for For The Record Vol. 27 No. 11 P. 6 The Social Security Act defines medical necessity as follows: “Notwithstanding any other provisions of this title, no payment may be made under Part A or Part B for any expenses incurred for items or services, which are not reasonable and necessary for the diagnosis…

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ICD-10 Moves Healthcare One Step Closer to Improved Documentation

Article by Karen Diop, RN, CDIP. This article was originally published on the Journal of AHIMA website in the “Coding Notes” section in November 2015 and is republished here with permission. Change has become a constant in healthcare. With the introduction of electronic health record (EHR) systems, core measures, the “meaningful use” EHR Incentive Program, value-based purchasing, and the…

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Queries: It’s All in the Timing

By Susan Chapman for For The Record Whether delivered face to face or remotely, requests are more apt to receive a response if they’re delivered within a physician’s workflow. There are different ways in which physicians are queried to ensure patient health records are complete. Most facilities employ onsite clinical documentation improvement (CDI) teams that are…

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Washington Debrief: Flex-IT Bill Makes Series of Meaningful Use Program Changes

By Leslie Kriegstein, Interim Vice President of Public Policy, CHIME for Healthcare Informatics Congressional Affairs Flex-IT Bill Makes Series of Meaningful Use Program Changes Key Takeaway: Congresswoman Renee Ellmers (R-NC-02) introduced legislation last week that makes a series of substantial improvements to the Meaningful Use Program, including a delay in the release Stage 3 rules.…

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Congress Considers Putting Brakes on Stage 3

By Joseph Goedert for HealthData Management Federal lawmakers are noticing some dark clouds surrounding the electronic health records meaningful use program to prod providers to adopt EHRs. With rising recent struggles in the program, lawmakers may be poised to intervene to push back the program’s third stage. Problems with the current stage are all too…

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