In what is likely a result of a new survey matrix, new or revised Life Safety and Environment of Care requirements, and increased pressure from CMS, hospitals scored much worse across the board on The Joint Commission’s list of most challenging standards for the first half of 2017, compared to the same period last year.
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Tag Archives: Hospitals
Red Flags for Hospitals in Medicaid Expansion States
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Gender identity and healthcare: How hospitals should approach gender issues in care delivery
A patient is being registered at a hospital. Registration requests to see identification, which states that the patient is male. However, the patient identifies as female, and the electronic medical record (EMR) only has male or female fields. Which one should the registrar select?
Radiology Medical Billing for Hospitals and Imaging Centers
The financial stability of hospitals and imaging centers is closely associated with prompt billing and reimbursement. Hiring the services of medical billing companies would greatly help healthcare practices improve their revenue. It is fortunate that many established medical billing companies in the US offer consistent radiology medical billing services for hospitals and imaging centers to ensure them better claim reimbursement and an improved cash flow.
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Timely Reimbursement of Claims
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An experienced medical billing company can provide accurate billing services for hospitals and imaging centers. Using the services a professional billing service provider allows radiology practices and imaging centers to submit error-free medical bills within the specified time frame, and avoid possibilities of claim denial or rejection. Besides maximizing their reimbursement and revenue, they would also be able to save the time and effort needed to perform in-house medical billing procedures. Professional radiology medical billing services also ensure:
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· HIPAA complaint medical billing service
· Better security and confidentiality for all data
· Interface with RIS (Radiology Information System)
· Continuous follow-up for unpaid or denied claims
· Fast turnaround time
· Flexible and customized medical billing solutions
· Round-the-clock technical assistance
· Daily, weekly and monthly billing status and practice analysis reports
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Core Radiology Medical Billing Services
The billing experts, coders and other related personnel in medical billing companies are well-versed in all matters related to radiology medical billing and the latest norms. They accurately process medical bills and claims using advanced billing software such as Medisoft, NextGen, Misys, Lytec, IDX, Inception, and Eclipse. They can also work on the software specified by the client. The core services that come under radiology medical billing are:
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· Patient enrollment
· Scheduling and re-scheduling
· Billing and reconciling of accounts
· Insurance verification
· Referrals
· Coding
· Insurance authorizations
· Payment posting with ERA
· Collections and AR collections
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Choosing an Established Service Provider is Important
Professional radiology medical billing services help hospitals, individual radiologists, imaging centers and radiology departments. So facilities that plan to outsource their radiology medical billing tasks should seek the assistance of an established medical billing service provider. This would ensure customized radiology medical billing solutions at competitive prices.
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Radiology Medical Billing – Outsource Strategies International (OSI) is a leading medical billing company in the US committed to providing fast and efficient medical billing services.
High- and low-risk devices are all the same to surveyors; New maintenance standards could prove costly for hospitals:
Many were shocked by The Joint Commission’s newest standards and elements of performance (EP) on medical device maintenance. The accreditor will no longer distinguish between “high-risk” and “non-high-risk” equipment when surveying maintenance and inspection compliance. Instead, facilities are expected to achieve 100% inspection compliance for both types of devices.
Holding hospitals for ransom; The WannaCry virus and the lack of cybersecurity in hospitals
Over the course of one weekend in May, more than 300,000 computers in 150 countries were held hostage by a ransomware virus called “WannaCry.” One of the most notable victims of WannaCry was the United Kingdom’s National Health Service (NHS). About one-fifth of NHS trusts (which oversee British hospitals) were affected, forcing them to reroute ambulances, postpone surgeries, and cancel appointments.
While American hospitals were mostly unaffected by this particular attack, there has been a worrying jump in successful ransomware attacks in the U.S.
Ruling Gives Religion-based Hospitals Pension Exemption
On June 5, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in the Advocate Health Care Network v. Stapleton case that religious-affiliated hospitals are exempt from federal pension requirements. That means faith-based hospitals can avoid pension regulations — such as paying premiums to the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation — under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act’s (ERISA) “church plan” exemption. […]
AAPC Knowledge Center
Lower Readmission Rates in Hospitals in Value-based Programs
Facilities participating in voluntary value-based programs have fewer readmissions than those not-involved, according to a study in AMA’s JAMA Internal Medicine. The 10-year study, conducted by researchers from the University of Michigan, analyzed 30-day readmission rates for patients treated for heart disease and pneumonia in 2,800 hospitals. Study Results “Association Between Hospitals’ Engagement in Value-based […]
AAPC Knowledge Center
Auditors Uncover Billing Errors in Hospitals
A doctor’s Hippocratic oath isn’t good enough for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS); they need proof that every service a beneficiary receives is medically necessary. This proof comes in the form of diagnostic codes reported on claims, backed by observations documented by the doctor. Coding and documentation that don’t align can cost […]
AAPC Knowledge Center
2016 eCQM Reporting Deadline Extended for Hospitals
Eligible hospitals and critical access hospitals participating in the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) and/or Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program have been granted a little more time to submit their electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM) data for the 2016 reporting period. The original deadline of Feb. 28 has been extended to March 13. According […]
AAPC Knowledge Center