A July JAMA Network study found that cannabis use disorder slightly increased patient morbidity and in-hospital mortality. The study included 12,422 hospitalizations following major elective inpatient surgeries.
A recent study from Epic Research showed that the average length of provider notes increased, but note-taking time decreased since 2020. The study explains the reason for this change and the effect it has on providers.
A June study in The Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that data collection and reporting efforts to comply with CMS inpatient hospital quality programs cost more than $5 million and took more than 100,000 personnel hours for a large hospital.
CMS’ FY 2024 ICD-10-PCS codes, guidelines, and conversion table were published June 6. The release featured minor guideline changes, 78 new codes, 14 revisions, and five deletions.
CMS recently published an MLN Fact Sheet that explains how providers can check Medicare claim status information. This quick reference guide also offers pointers on establishing an NPI, monitoring claims, when to check claims’ payment statuses, and more.
Revenue cycle leaders reported denials management as their most time-consuming revenue cycle task, followed by prior authorizations, according to a new survey by AKASA.
CMS recently published its evaluation of New Technology Add-on Payment (NTAP) applications and proposed revisions to NTAP eligibility criteria in its fiscal year (FY) 2024 IPPS proposed rule.
Patients with Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias have higher readmission rates than the general geriatric population, according to a retrospective cohort study published in JAMA Network Open .
CMS released the fiscal year (FY) 2024 IPPS proposed rule on April 10, with proposals for the annual ICD-10-CM/PCS code update and increases to hospital payment rates. The rule also introduces new quality measures aimed at reducing health equity gaps.
Nearly 80% of healthcare organizations are collecting data on social determinants of health (SDoH), or non-clinical factors that affect health, including family and home life, education, employment, and food insecurity, according to a new AHIMA survey.
Postoperative mortality rates among Medicare beneficiaries are associated the characteristics of patients’ neighborhoods and the hospitals where they received treatment, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open in January.
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently released its annual report detailing its list of top unimplemented recommendations for 2022. The agency recommends that CMS increase scrutiny of inpatient hospital claims for severe malnutrition and other diagnoses that are vulnerable to upcoding.
A retrospective medical record review published in JAMA Network Open in December found that nearly one-third of intentional firearm injuries resulting in emergency department admissions were inaccurately coded in ICD-10-CM as accidents.
CMS recently released Medicare Claims Processing Transmittal 11685 revising language to make three revenue codes for inpatient hospital services allowable for payment under Medicare Part B and adding COVID-19 to its list of preventive services.
The average patient length of stay in hospitals has increased by 19.2% in 2022 compared to 2019 levels, the American Hospital Association said, citing data from Strata Decision Technology. For patients awaiting discharge to post-acute care settings, the increase is nearly 24%.
Coded housing instability is linked to higher hospital admission rates for mental disorders, longer inpatient stays, and substantial healthcare costs, according to a study recently published in JAMA Network Open .
The severity and length of post-COVID-19 symptoms has been a topic of study almost ever since the pandemic began. In a new study involving patients with significant respiratory disability following hospitalizations for COVID-19, daily supervised pulmonary rehabilitation was associated with significant improvement in exercise tolerance and quality of life.
As the shift to outpatient care has accelerated, likely due to COVID-19, inpatient volumes continue to remain below pre-pandemic levels for hospitals and health systems this year, according to Kaufman Hall’s 2022 State of Healthcare Performance Improvement report.
A recent medical record review published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open found that between October 1, 2021, and January 31, 2022, providers used ICD-10-CM code U09.9 (post-COVID-19 condition, unspecified) to identify a multitude of post-acute conditions brought on by COVID-19.
