Split (or shared) visits—the current term used by the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)—allow non-physician practitioners (NPPs) and physicians who work for the same employer/entity to share patient visits on the...more
Congress is on its way to extending the stop-gap funding bills into March (and may have already done so by the time you read this). Absent from the legislation to continue funding the federal government is a “doc fix” that...more
On November 2, 2021, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued its Calendar Year (CY) 2022 Physician Fee Schedule (“PFS”) Final Rule. In this post, we sample some key highlights from the Final Rule. ...more
On November 2, 2021, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued the calendar year (CY) 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule which, among other policy and regulatory changes, finalized...more
There are three things that cannot be stopped: time, gravity, and the increasing complexity of the Stark Law. To be fair, complexity has not been the goal of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). Rather, Stark's...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 43 (December 7, 2020) - In the 2021 final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) rule, CMS made both permanent and temporary changes to supervision, telehealth and other provisions,...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 40 (November 11, 2019) - CMS has given the green light to prior authorization for five types of procedures in an attempt to control “unnecessary increases” in these procedures as part...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it would soon deny claims based on a series of validation edits to Medicare enrollment systems. These validation edits will apply to hospital...more
In the 2019 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule published on November 23, CMS published new policies for accountable care organizations (ACOs) participating in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP). ...more
In its final Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) Rule released November 2, 2018 (the Final Rule), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalized its proposal to make payments for...more
• The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has published the Calendar Year (CY) 2019 Final Rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS), which includes provisions related to Medicare physician payments as well...more
As of January 1, 2018, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) began enrolling suppliers in its new Medicare Diabetes Prevention Program (“MDPP”). If successfully enrolled prior to April 1, 2018, MDPP suppliers...more
Non-excepted hospital off-campus provider-based departments (PBDs) may once again face cuts to reimbursement during calendar year 2018 (CY 2018) if the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) finalizes proposed changes...more
CMS recently finalized sweeping changes to the way Medicare pays hospitals for services furnished in “new” off-campus provider-based departments (referred to as “off-campus PBDs”). CMS revealed the changes on November 1...more
On November 2, 2016, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), released the 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) final rule, which finalized a number of new policies designed to improve Medicare payment for...more
In the CY 2017 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (CY 2017 MPFS), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued proposed updates to the physician self-referral law (Stark law). The primary Stark law update focused on...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of Inspector General (OIG) have reviewed the use of Modifier 25 to unbundle payments for evaluation and management (E/M) services when a procedure is...more
CMS issued its Outpatient Prospective Payment System (“OPPS”) Proposed Rule for 2017 (the “Proposed Rule”) on July 6, 2016. The Proposed Rule will be published in the Federal Register on July 14, 2016. One highly-anticipated...more
On November 2, 2015, President Obama signed the Bipartisan Budget Act of 2015, a two-year budget deal with a key provision affecting hospitals and other health care providers. Effective January 1, 2017, the Act decreases the...more