ONC Releases 2017 ISA Draft For Comments
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) has released the Interoperability Standards Advisory (ISA) of 2017 draft for Health Information Technology for public comments. ONC said that the advisory is a “coordinated catalog of standards and implementation specifications”, which is meant to be used by the industry. The document states that, “ISA’s scope includes electronic…
Qualified Entities Can Sell Medicare Claims Data
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a final rule last month, titled “Expanding Uses of Medicare Data by Qualified Entities,” that describes the situations under which some of the “qualified” entities can exchange their Medicare claims details. This rule is authorized by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) as…
Increasing Price Of Prescription Drugs: A Pressing Matter For Medicare
Recent studies estimate that as of 2015, every male turning 65 is expected to take prescription medicines worth $195,000 in lifetime Medicare benefits. It is predicted that by 2035, the figure will pass $300,000 mark; at this rate, it will surpass the Medicare benefits available for 65 year-old in their lifetime from Social Security and…
Balance Billing Excluded For Medicare Beneficiaries Under QMB
In latest news, CMS expressed their concern regarding physicians billing Medicare beneficiaries registered with the Qualified Medicare Beneficiary (QMB) program. The QMB initiative is targeted for dual-eligible beneficiaries with very low income, who are registered to both Medicare and Medicaid with the cost-sharing plans offered by Medicare. Nevertheless, many of the beneficiaries are unaware of…
New Rules For Overtime Payment
The Department of Labor (DOL) recently published a new rule for overtime payments in the country. The finalized rule increases the threshold for overtime payment eligibility, and expands the benefits to more salaried employees. In addition, the new model will allow previously ineligible employees to re-check their eligibility criteria and become eligible for the overtime…
CMS Proposes Patient Relationship Categories For MACRA
Along with the proposed rule that CMS recently released, the agency will attempt to garner comments on several other documents related to MACRA implementation. One of these requests concerns patient relationship categories, while the other deals with interoperability. The layout of MACRA requires that CMS devise categories for patient relationships with physicians, ranging over an…
How QCDRs are easing the quality reporting burden?
One of the major problems raised by healthcare reform in the past decades is the administrative burden it places on physicians. One Weill Cornell Medical College and Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey recently asked doctors at 394 practices across the nation and found the following things. On average a physician spends 2.6 hours…
FDA Supporting Ban On Powdered Medical Gloves
The FDA has just announced their proposal to ban most of the powdered gloves in the country. The use of such gloves is going down, but still, they comprise an unfair and considerable risk of bringing illness or injury to providers, patients, and other individuals who happen to be exposed to them. This risk cannot…
HHS Says It Has Hit Payment Goals Ahead Of Schedule
March saw the HHS come out with details on their goal to tie 30 percent of Medicare payments to alternative payment models (APM). These are meant to award quality over quantity of care services coming in from the beneficiaries. The target was realized a year before schedule, which proved that it is definitely welcoming, while…
OMB Holds Final Review Of The Proposed Medicare Payment Rule
The new Medicare Payment system that was designed by Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) was reviewed by the Office Management and Budget (OMB). The review process will be a crucial step in the process of officially establishing the amendments in the new Medicare payment system. Once the amendments are officially authorized, they will…
