RevCycleIntelligence

By Jacqueline LaPointe August 05, 2024 - HHS has finalized the fiscal year (FY) 2025 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) and Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) rule. The rule will increase operating payment rates for acute care hospitals by about 2.9%, or $2.9 billion, as long as facilities meet quality and EHR reporting requirements.

By Jacqueline LaPointe July 31, 2024 - A new study suggests that private equity firms aren’t necessarily going after struggling hospitals, but hospitals with more financial stability prior to acquisition. The study published in JAMA Internal Medicine by researchers from Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School analyzed over 200 acute care hospitals acquired by private equity firms for the first time between 2005 and 2018.

Sponsored by Greenway Health July 31, 2024 - In the ever-evolving healthcare landscape, efficient revenue cycle management (RCM) is crucial for maintaining a financially healthy practice. Adopting a proactive and strategic approach to RCM can make all the difference in addressing heavy administrative workflows, billing errors, increasing denials and staffing shortages.

By Jacqueline LaPointe July 30, 2024 - The American Medical Association, along with 50 state medical societies and 76 other healthcare organizations, recently provided congressional leaders with legislative priorities for supporting the sustainability of physician practices. The letter to leaders offered four key pillars of physician payment reform, including enacting an annual, permanent inflationary payment update.

By Jacqueline LaPointe July 25, 2024 - The American Hospital Association (AHA) has expressed key concerns with a newly proposed organ transplant payment model, causing the group to urge the CMS Innovation Center to not implement it. The Innovation Center proposed the Increasing Organ Transplant Access (IOTA) Model in May 2024 when it announced the six-year mandatory program aimed at increasing kidney transplants.

Sponsored by CareCredit July 24, 2024 - Proactive financial discussions and third-party financing options can reduce stress for both patients and providers when it comes to health and wellness services. Research from the “Synchrony Consumer Healthcare Journey” study by CareCredit identifies three key factors influencing patient perceptions of out-of-pocket costs: cost transparency, early communication, and available payment solutions.

By Jacqueline LaPointe July 22, 2024 - The American Medical Association (AMA) recently announced an update to its Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set to account for the development and administration of avian influenza vaccines. A recent outbreak of the avian influenza, or bird flu, through the strain H5N1 has spread globally in wild birds, infecting poultry, dairy cows and other mammals, including humans. According to the CDC, there have been .

By Jacqueline LaPointe July 11, 2024 - CMS has proposed the Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) rule for calendar year (CY) 2025, updating several payment policies including a reduction in average payment rates. The CY 2025 proposed rule looks to pay physicians less compared to CY 2024 as CMS eliminates the temporary increase in physician Medicare physician payments as required by statute.

By Jacqueline LaPointe July 10, 2024 - CMS has proposed the calendar year (CY) 2025 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) payment rule, seeking to increase Medicare payments to the facilities while expanding health equity and behavioral health access. The proposed rule looks to increase the OPPS payment rates for hospitals by 2.6% if they meet quality reporting requirements.

July 10, 2024 - In February 2024, Change Healthcare experienced a network interruption due to a cyberattack. But to the surprise of many, this interruption would last months as the company re-secured its systems and got them operating again. The Change Healthcare cyberattack is likely the largest to affect healthcare this year, and it hit providers where they are already the most vulnerable: their revenue cycles. Provider financial performance nosedived during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.