Establishing an outpatient CDI program can have substantial benefits. Recently, an outpatient CDI review project demonstrated there were many documentation improvement opportunities at a large family practice/internal medicine physician clinic.
Along with E/M changes for 2019 and beyond , the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule contains a plethora of regulations impacting reimbursement, including new modifiers for therapists.
Despite facing potential lawsuits and political opposition, CMS finalized some of its most controversial proposals in the 2019 OPPS final rule by implementing several site-neutral payment policies and 340B drug payment reductions.
Remittance processing and appeals are integral parts of the revenue cycle. When facilities submit a claim to Medicare, the hope is that the claim will be paid in full and in a timely manner, but that does not always happen.
In the 2019 OPPS final rule, released November 2, CMS implemented several site-neutral payment policies, though the agency did delay or shelve other proposals due to stakeholder feedback.
It's been more than three years since CMS introduced a subset of modifiers it wants providers to report instead of modifier -59 (distinct procedural service), but they're still optional as barely any new guidance has been released.