Health-Costs Transparency Rule for Hospitals Upheld In the news from Washington today, A federal appeals court in Washington affirmed a Trump administration policy requiring hospitals to disclose secret rates they negotiate with insurance companies beginning on Friday, marking a victory for one of President Trump’s central health-policy initiatives. The American Hospital Association had sued to stop the initiative from taking effect. …
By: Sandy Sage RN, Revenue Cycle Analyst, HTH Some hospitals are finding their corridors quiet, parking lots empty, low to no census and a sense of anticipation as they wait for what seems like an inevitable influx of patients infected with the coronavirus. Surgeries and elective procedures, the lifeblood of rural hospitals, have been postponed or cancelled; and, CEOs and …
HomeTown Health received clarification from CMS today related to CAHs and AUC imaging reporting. Here is their response on this subject. The AUC criteria is applied based on the location where the exam is performed, not by anything else. So when it is performed in a CAH the criteria does not apply. “If the provider ordering imaging is on a …
For facilities looking for a sample letter or comments to share with CMS, here is the letter submitted by Sandy to CMS regarding the OPPS 2020 proposed rule regarding price transparency. Please make sure you submit your comments to CMS as soon as possible. The proposed rule can be found at: https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/08/09/2019-16107/medicare-program-proposed-changes-to-hospital-outpatient-prospective-payment-and-ambulatory-surgical#open-comment
CMS released the 2020 OPPS proposed rule on 8/9/2019. Although it is for PPS hospitals this year CAHs are affected as well. The proposed requirements for Price Transparency effective 1/1/2020 as written will be a tremendous burden on rural and critical access hospitals. Comments on the proposed rule will only be open until 09/27/2019. It is vital that you submit …
Did you make a personal New Year’s resolution? It’s time to make one for your hospital! You should include improving the two top areas of revenue cycle focus for 2019. 1. Patient Access The Patient Access department is from where all information flows. Data is entered and flows all the way through the revenue cycle affecting each area in some …
Happy New Year! CMS announced in the most recent final IPPS rule that as of January 1, 2019, all hospitals must post their standard charges on the internet in machine-readable format, to increase transparency in pricing. They have also published some FAQs related to the rule. (reference) Hospitals have started to publish their charges, online in a variety of formats. …
By: Sandy Sage RN, Revenue Analyst I’ve worked in the healthcare revenue cycle for 18 years. I’ve seen hospitals bought, sold, closed and I’ve seen them struggle and flourish. With regulations being imposed daily, and weekly, hospital staff have soldiered on and worked hard to keep their hospitals open. The one thing that every person I have met, that works …