Medicare reimbursement rates will nearly double for the administration of single- and two-dose vaccines. CMS has significantly increased Medicare reimbursements rates for the administration of new COVID-19 vaccines in an effort to accelerate rollout, according to a new announcement. The announcement emailed to journalists earlier today states that the national average payment rate for physicians, hospitals, pharmacies, and other immunizers has risen from approximately $28 to $40 for the administration of single-dose vaccines and from approximately $45 to $80 for the administration of COVID-19 vaccines requiring two doses. Although, the exact reimbursement rate for each dose of a COVID-19 vaccine will depend on the type of entity that administers the vaccine and where the vaccination is furnished. The new rates will apply to vaccinations given on and March 15, 2021. “This new and higher payment rate will support important actions taken by providers that are designed to increase the numb...

Summary What is already known about this topic? Use of telehealth (the remote provision of clinical care) early during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been well characterized. What is added by this report? The 154% increase in telehealth visits during the last week of March 2020, compared with the same period in 2019 might have been related to pandemic-related telehealth policy changes and public health guidance. What are the implications for public health practice? Telehealth could have multiple benefits during the pandemic by expanding access to care, reducing disease exposure for staff and patients, preserving scarce supplies of personal protective equipment, and reducing patient demand on facilities. Telehealth policy changes might continue to support increased care access during and after the pandemic.Article Metrics  Altmetric: News (2) Twitter (149) Facebook (1) Citations: Views:Views equals page views plus PDF downloads Metric Details Figure 2 References   Related Ma...

In order to succeed with healthcare bundled payments, providers must engage post-acute care providers, leverage data analytics, and improve their patient engagement strategies. Healthcare bundled payments are a value-based reimbursement model that uses a single, comprehensive payment to address an entire defined episode of care. This alternative payment model has become a critical stepping stone for providers as they explore risk-based purchasing. Unlike other common alternative payment models, such as accountable care organizations (ACOs) and capitation, bundled payments impose clinical and financial responsibility on providers for a single care episode for an individual rather than the ongoing outcomes of an entire patient population. If total care costs for the episode are below the bundled payment reimbursement, providers generate a profit. However, if total costs exceed the bundled payment amount, providers incur a financial loss. Additionally, providers may earn value-based ince...

Practices who fail to be proactive about collecting from patients will predictably experience a tsunami of accounts receivable. In most states, medical practices are re-opening and ramping up patient volume. Appointments and procedures are increasing, and physicians are eagerly anticipating an increase of cash flow compared to the past three months. However, the dismal unemployment numbers suggest that patient balances will be increasingly difficult to collect. Here are seven ways to increase patient payments. https://www.physicianspractice.com/view/7-ways-to-increase-patient-payments

Health systems are facing a mean subsidy, or loss, of $227K per employed physician, while hospitals continue to underperform due to COVID-19, Kaufman Hall reports. The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic is creating a perfect storm for health systems, which appear to be taking hits on both the hospital and physician practice sides of their business. The latest National Hospital Flash Report from consulting firm Kaufman Hall found that the median hospital operating margin index is well below 2019 performance at 2.7 percent year-to-date through September even with federal aid from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act funding. Without CARES Act funding, the median hospital operating margin index is -1.9 percent. Additionally, the Kaufman Hall earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin index was well below 2019 performance, standing at 7.5 percent year-to-date with CARES Act funding and 3.2 percent without funding from the CARES Act. Mea...

Telemedicine has helped millions during COVID-19, and its expansion needs to stay after the pandemic is over. THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC is nothing my medical school training could ever have prepared me for. As a neurologist, I have witnessed strains on my patients, colleagues and the medical institution where I work up close. In my headache medicine practice, I have started to see a rising number of people with cases or suspected cases of COVID-19 complaining of new or worsening headaches.[ READ: Telehealth Continues Rapid Growth Amid Coronavirus Pandemic ] Fortunately, because of federal and state changes allowing for expanded coverage of telemedicine and because private insurers have followed along, I have been able to see these patients safely and without risk of exposure. Before the pandemic, telemedicine coverage by neurologists was largely limited, often restricted to rural communities and cases of stroke care. Just a few months before the pandemic, I hesitated to adopt telemedi...

 States, January–March 2020 by LEVEL Medical Billing | Mar 20, 2021 | iMAX Medical Billing Insights Summary What is already known about this topic? Use of telehealth (the remote provision of clinical care) early during the COVID-19 pandemic has not been well characterized. What is added by this report? The 154% increase in telehealth visits during the last week of March 2020, compared with the same period in 2019 might have been related to pandemic-related telehealth policy changes and public health guidance. What are the implications for public health practice? Telehealth could have multiple benefits during the pandemic by expanding access to care, reducing disease exposure for staff and patients, preserving scarce supplies of personal protective equipment, and reducing patient demand on facilities. Telehealth policy changes might continue to support increased care access during and after the pandemic.Article Metrics Altmetric: News (2) Twitter (149) Facebook (1) Citations: Vie...