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Welcome to the medical billing blog containing news and articles relating to medical billing, medical coding, ICD, HIPAA and practice management functions.
2004-2024 Celebrating 20 Years of Healthcare RCM Articles
The Blog Currently Contains 1,265+ Healthcare Articles
4 Initiatives Advancing Healthcare Interoperability in 2017
Healthcare interoperability has been a priority for vendors and providers since the advent of health data exchange. Timely access to accurate health information regardless of health IT system or location improves provider communication and patient care delivery across the care continuum. This year, healthcare organizations, health IT developers, and federal agencies alike have made a concerted effort to push the industry closer to its goal of true interoperability. The following are four recent initiatives and forthcoming projects aimed at transforming interoperability in healthcare in 2017… Continue reading this article
RCM tip: MACRA calls for a cross-departmental effort
Healthcare organizations should seek cross-departmental collaboration in preparing to manage and execute Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act initiatives, according to Joncé Smith, vice president of revenue cycle management at Stoltenberg Consulting. Ms. Smith shared the following tip with Becker’s Hospital Review. “Although many may see the IT department as the owner of an initiative like MACRA, true progress can only be achieved from a cross-departmental collaboration among financial, clinical and IT departments. Financial leaders serving on this committee should be responsible for managing the organization’s reporting path, including working with clinical leaders to select the appropriate program measures under either the APM or MIPS track. After all, these program …
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 …
