Medical Billing Blog with Medical Billing & Coding Info & Articles

Welcome to the Medical Billing and Coding Blog
Welcome to the medical billing blog containing news and articles relating to medical billing, medical coding ICD-10, HIPAA and all practice management functions.
Click any of the article links below or browse by section to the right to read articles on a specific subject.
Currently contains over 1,235 healthcare and medical related entries.
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Are Biometrics the Future of HIPAA Security?
Medical electronic health records, or EHRs for short, may have the potential to be much more secure than conventional records. That sounds like a bold claim in light of news about data breaches involving personal information. In fact, according to a report from the Identity Theft Resource Center and CyberScout, the number of tracked data breaches in the United States in 2016 hit an all-time high of 1,093. And still, more than 78% of doctors use EHRs, says the CDC. For medical professionals and the healthcare industry as a whole, keeping sensitive data secure and adhering to HIPAA regulations is a top priority. After all, EHRs can include years of …
7 Trends EHR Vendors Must Address to Survive in 2018
A new market report addresses areas where EHR vendors will need to improve their systems in order to stay competitive through 2018. According to Kalorama Information, the $28-billion EHR market dominated by a score large vendors and hundreds of smaller competitors is set for a change as a result of emerging challenges voiced by healthcare professionals such as health IT-related administrative burden and negative perceptions of specific EHR vendors and products. “Small trends that in the past were noted but not addressed, like usability and interoperability, the removal of incentives and lack of market share leadership have bubbled up we believe, to where they are no longer side issues,” said …
Medicare is Still Behind on Telehealth
Medicare has long been criticized for its narrow restrictions on the coverage and reimbursement of telehealth services. A new report to Congress by the US Government Accountability Office (GAO) shows that not much has changed over the years. Mandated by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act, the GAO report noted that Medicare and the US Department of Defense (DoD) trailed the Veterans Affairs (VA) system in their use of telehealth and remote patient monitoring (RPM). On the other hand, the report painted an optimistic picture of Medicare demonstrations and new care delivery models that, it said, might increase the use of telehealth in Medicare. But Gary Capistrant, chief policy …
Paper-Based Billing is Ancient History in Healthcare
“Today’s realities are that managing a practice is more complicated than ever…” That’s how an assessment begins on what it takes to successfully run a medical group in 2017 by Triple Tree, a merchant bank focused on healthcare. In a recent report, the bank also looked at the forces driving mergers of specialty groups. Chief among them is the realization by administrators and their physicians that the healthcare business isn’t what they hoped it would be. The mounting pressures are affecting medical groups’ top and bottom lines. The bank’s report suggests that while opting to be part of a larger group might sound attractive to an independent practice, the non-clinical …
New Proposed Rule to Reduce EHR Data Reporting
A new CMS proposed rule contains two provisions intended to reduce hospital eCQM reporting requirements in response to feedback calling for less aggressive EHR data reporting policies. A couple provisions in a new Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program rule proposal outline modifications to electronic clinical quality measure (eCQM) reporting requirements and validation processes. In a public document in the Federal Register, CMS proposed reductions to hospital eCQM reporting policies. In the 2017 calendar year reporting period (and 2019 fiscal year payment determination), hospitals would be required to choose six available eCQMs listed in the Hospital IQR Program measure set and offer two chosen calendar year quarters of data… …

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