CMS finalized a new data collection requirement for services performed in off-campus, provider-based clinics in the 2015 OPPS final rule , which was released October 31.
Beginning January 1, 2015, physicians will no longer need to provide certification for an inpatient admission unless the admission is expected to last for 20 days or longer or the case is an outlier.
Editor's note: Jugna Shah, MPH, president and founder of Nimitt Consulting, writes a bimonthly column for Briefings on APCs, commenting on the latest policies and regulations and analyzing their impact on providers.
Coders aren’t the only ones who run into problems due to a lack of complete physician documentation. Lack of sufficient documentation also causes problems for audit review of submitted claims, which in turn leads to delays in payment, according to the October 2014 Medicare Quarterly Provider Compliance Newsletter .
The four Cooperating Parties released the 2015 ICD-10-CM guidelines and, in the process, deleted a guideline that affects inpatient coding. Both the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and CMS posted the new guidelines on their websites.
Recovery Auditors have uncovered incorrect secondary diagnoses in patients who underwent amputations for musculoskeletal and circulatory system disorders. CMS revealed the findings in its Quarterly Compliance Newsletter .
