Healthcare IT is making rapid advancements in technology to support a medical billing company’s complex array of activities. However, the latest software and apps supposedly designed to make the processes faster and efficient are often written with distinct functions, incapable of integration. This leads to a fragmented approach for both providers and billing companies in handling their essential operations, which include eligibility & benefit verification of insurance, coding, processing claims, processing payment, and manage revenue tasks, to name a few, while strictly maintaining compliance with coding regulations, such as the ICD-10 code update. These are complex activities and require integration for a seamless workflow.

This calls for the need for a single platform that understands the drawbacks of a fragmented approach and offers an integrated interface that allows streamlined access and gives full control to its users for all functions. In simpler words, it should be a one-stop destination for your Revenue Cycle Management needs. It is estimated that the global Revenue Cycle Management Market will reach USD 90.43 Billion in 2022 from USD 45.59 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 12.1%. More specifically, integrated solutions are expected to enjoy the most significant jump and register the highest CAGR during this period.

Here are some benefits that you should not overlook while searching for a consolidated platform revenue cycle management (medical billing) software.

1.   Single Sign-on:  This is one of the evident and immediate benefits. You can manage multiple practices, multiple locations, numerous businesses under one login—no need to remember several different user IDs and passwords to various applications.

2.   Centralized Insurance Payer, Attorney, Adjuster, Referring Physicians, Patient, Claim, and Accounts Receivable Management: If you’ve customers in the same geography and share a common payer base, adjusters, attorneys, referring providers, etc., a common billing platform allows you to centrally manage the setup in a quick time with minimal effort versus when you have several different applications for a similar customer base.

3.   Consolidated Reporting:  With the ability to manage all practices, businesses with a single platform, another noticeable advantage is the ability to get a composite and accurate picture of your business as a whole rather than compiling data from several different applications and excel exports. The reporting filters put across multiple locations, practices, and companies get you the results on your tips just in a few minutes.

4.   Improves Billers’ Efficiency and Productivity:  The one-platform approach allows easy and quick management of billing and revenue cycle operations, thereby improving staff efficiency and productivity as the staff need not spend time & efforts in learning the ropes of multiple systems and therefore can gain proficiency with focused learning efforts on one platform. Likewise, it also reduces dependency on staff and allows improved tracking of user productivity.

5.   Time Saver:  A single platform is highly timesaving in many ways. As everything needs to be done on a single platform, a lot of time is saved from jumping from one application to another. The staff also needs to learn only one platform and gain proficiency in it. The team also gets trained in less time, and no time is wasted in continued pieces of training for multiple applications. It gives them time for other, more productive, and business-growing activities. According to CAQH data, approximately 12 minutes are taken and cost $5.37 each for eligibility and claims calls. A consolidated RCM platform can save this time and money to improve profitability.

6.   Improved billing clients’ financial performance:  A medical billing company must be committed to improving the financial performance of its clients. This can be achieved by identifying weak points, assessing the performance, and solving the issues by utilizing data analytics and preparing reports. With one platform that includes billing software and EHR, accurate and real-time data can be used to prepare reports and look for loopholes for improved financial performance.

7.   Eliminates Double Entry:  Single platform eliminates double entry chances and other errors and rejection of bills.

8.   Consistent User Experience:  Consistency in work is the most important for a user to perform at its best. With multiple platforms, the user will have different experiences while working on them. A single and consolidated platform gives the pleasure of consistency to the user and makes the work enjoyable. 

9.   Benchmarking Dashboard: It is essential for the success of any company to be informed about the feasibility and performance of its team based on the performance of its peers. A benchmarking dashboard can be a solution that allows you to compare your performance with peers to set accurate targets and make a more refined strategy. 

10.  Scalability: It becomes an added advantage if the platform is scalable and can be used in a range of capabilities as and when required, from a solo practitioner to medical billing operations management of thousands of customers.

11.  Save Operating Costs:  Another most discernible benefit of a consolidated platform is cost saving. A medical billing company does not solely work on insurance claims but has a wide range of offerings apart from billing like data analytics and report generation. Having multiple software and systems for different services will prove heavy on pocket. But a consolidated platform guarantees to be cheaper with integrated applications for numerous tasks. 

12.  Stress-free troubleshooting and support: There can be various points to require help while working on different applications. You have to deal with different customer support for different applications with varying levels of dependency and quality. But with a single platform, every trouble will be shot by a single support system. This makes troubleshooting stress free, quicker, and efficient.

All these and more benefits of a single, consolidated RCM system for medical billing companies allow seamless, streamlined, and highly efficient workflow management.

Schedule a demonstration with OmniMD RCM Solution Architect to find out how we can help you to make your operations seamless and efficient.

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COVID-19 pandemic hit the world in late 2019 and continued to trouble us all through 2020. Apart from the physical setback, it had a terrible impact on every individual’s social, professional, and psychological well-being. During these challenging times, everything got on hold. Even the biggest of businesses were shut with no positive visibility. This hit the healthcare system too. Even the best of primary healthcare facilities was unsure of keeping themselves open with negligible IPD & OPD. 

This concern was raised by nearly 400 medical organizations, including ACR, as they requested Congress to revisit the year-end legislative package and stop the rate cuts. Along with this, more than 300 congress members also wanted to waive off the budget neutrality adjustment in the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule so as to mitigate or prevent the cuts. 

In a December statement, the American College of Radiology (ACR) had said that “While the COVID-19 pandemic rages and wreaks havoc on the health care system, providers continue to contend with overflowing hospitals and the financial impact of the spring-summer government-recommended shutdown of most non-urgent medical care. Against this backdrop, double-digit Medicare cuts will be devastating for patients, communities, and providers.” 

Considering the present scenario and to support the healthcare professionals, Congress passed The Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021 on December 21, 2020, after a COVID-19 stimulus package mitigated budget neutrality cuts finalized in a December rule. As a highlight, the Act ratified a 3.75 % increase in overall Medicare Physician Fee Schedule payments for all providers for 2021.  

To reflect the COVID-19 stimulus package changes, CMS updated the Physician Fee Schedule as of January 7. Here are important glimpses: 

• 3.75% increase in overall Medicare Physician Fee Schedule payments for 2021 
• Suspension of payments for Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) code G2211 for three years
• Up to 10.2 % cut for certain specialties and services because of a budget neutrality requirement
• Boost rates for E/M (evaluation and management) services that support primary care and chronic disease management
• Suspension of the 2 % payment adjustment for the statutory Medicare sequester through March 31, 2021
• Reinstatement of the 1.0 floor on the work Geographic Practice Cost Index through 2021
• Revision of the conversion factor for the Physician Fee Schedule in 2021 from $32.26 to $34.89 

As a surprise in 30 years, this finalized policy has the most significant updates for E/M codes. According to the American Medical Association (AMA), “G2211 (an add-on code for the complexity inherent to evaluation and management (E/M) visits) accounted for about $3 billion, or 3 %, of spending in the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule”. But the finalized policy has reduced the burden of the coding system from doctors and rewarded time to be spent on evaluation and management of patient care. With the delay in implementing the code, there will be a reduction in the budget neutrality adjustment. All this will prevent the significant rate cuts for some specialists and services during the COVID-19 pandemic, as laid out in the 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule. 

Also, there is a decrease in the Physician Fee Schedule conversion factor by $3.68 to $32.41. This has been done to reflect a statutory update of 0.00 percent and the adjustment to account for changes in relative value units and expenditures that would result from finalized policies.

To view the revised Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2021, providers can view payment rates in the Downloads section of the CY 2021 Physician Fee Schedule final rule (CMS-1734-F) webpage.

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The FDA issued an EUA on November 21, 2020, for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy, casirivimab and imdevimab, administered together to treat the adult and pediatric patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 having positive COVID-19 test results high at risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. The administration can only occur in settings where healthcare providers have immediate access to medications to treat a severe infusion reaction and the ability to activate the emergency medical system (EMS), as necessary.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), Medicare ensures coverage and payment for these infusions the same way it does for COVID-19 vaccines, thus allowing coverage for a broad range of providers and suppliers, including home health agencies, nursing homes, and freestanding and hospital-based infusion centers, and entities with whom nursing homes contract for this, to administer these treatments. Medicare will refuse payment for the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody products that providers receive for free. If providers begin to purchase COVID-19 monoclonal antibody products, Medicare anticipates setting the payment rate for the products, which will be 95% of the average wholesale price (AWP) for many healthcare providers, consistent with the usual vaccine payment methodologies. Medicare soon anticipates establishing codes and rates for the administration of the products.

CMS recognized specific code(s) for each COVID-19 monoclonal antibody product and specific administration code(s) for Medicare payment:

EUA effective November 10, 2020, for Eli Lilly and Company’s Antibody Bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555)

Healthcare providers can now use the HCPCS code Q0239 for the injection of 700 mg of Eli Lilly and Company’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapy cocktail and code M0239 for intravenous infusion and post-administration monitoring, according to CMS source on Monoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion

EUA effective November 21, 2020, for Regeneron’s Antibody casirivimab and imdevimab (REGN-COV2) (ZIP) 

Healthcare providers can now use the HCPCS code Q0243 to inject 2,400 mg of Regeneron’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapy cocktail and code M0243 for intravenous infusion post-administration monitoring, according to CMS source on Monoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion

Get the latest and most up to date list of billing codes, payment allowances, and effective dates.

Payment for Product & Infusion

Medicare will not provide payment for the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody products that healthcare providers receive for free, as will be the case upon the product’s initial availability in response to the COVID-19 PHE. If healthcare providers begin to purchase these monoclonal antibody products, CMS foresees setting the payment rate in the same way it was addressed the rate for COVID-19 vaccines.

In order to ensure immediate access during the COVID-19 PHE, Medicare will cover and pay for these infusions per Section 3713 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). CMS proposes to address potential refinements to payment for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusions and their administration through future notice and comment rulemaking.

Initially, the Medicare national average payment rate for the administration will be $309.60; this payment rate is strictly based on one hour of infusion and post-administration monitoring in the hospital outpatient setting. In the future, CMS may utilize a similar methodology to determine the payment rate for the infusion of additional monoclonal antibody products based on the expected infusion time in line with the FDA EUA or FDA approval of such products.

CMS is hopeful that this Medicare coverage for the two therapies will help providers overcome the hurdles of acquiring and employing new treatments. Yet, it is a known fact that healthcare facilities and providers are still expected to encounter challenges obtaining an adequate supply of such therapies for infected patients.

The FDA issued an EUA on November 21, 2020, for the investigational monoclonal antibody therapy, casirivimab and imdevimab, administered together to treat the adult and pediatric patients with mild-to-moderate COVID-19 having positive COVID-19 test results high at risk for progressing to severe COVID-19 and/or hospitalization. The administration can only occur in settings where healthcare providers have immediate access to medications to treat a severe infusion reaction and the ability to activate the emergency medical system (EMS), as necessary.

During the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE), Medicare ensures coverage and payment for these infusions the same way it does for COVID-19 vaccines, thus allowing coverage for a broad range of providers and suppliers, including home health agencies, nursing homes, and freestanding and hospital-based infusion centers, and entities with whom nursing homes contract for this, to administer these treatments. Medicare will refuse payment for the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody products that providers receive for free. If providers begin to purchase COVID-19 monoclonal antibody products, Medicare anticipates setting the payment rate for the products, which will be 95% of the average wholesale price (AWP) for many healthcare providers, consistent with the usual vaccine payment methodologies. Medicare soon anticipates establishing codes and rates for the administration of the products.

CMS recognized specific code(s) for each COVID-19 monoclonal antibody product and specific administration code(s) for Medicare payment:

EUA effective November 10, 2020, for Eli Lilly and Company’s Antibody Bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555)

Healthcare providers can now use the HCPCS code Q0239 for the injection of 700 mg of Eli Lilly and Company’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapy cocktail and code M0239 for intravenous infusion and post-administration monitoring, according to CMS source on Monoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion

EUA effective November 21, 2020, for Regeneron’s Antibody casirivimab and imdevimab (REGN-COV2) (ZIP) 

Healthcare providers can now use the HCPCS code Q0243 to inject 2,400 mg of Regeneron’s investigational monoclonal antibody therapy cocktail and code M0243 for intravenous infusion post-administration monitoring, according to CMS source on Monoclonal Antibody COVID-19 Infusion

Get the latest and most up to date list of billing codes, payment allowances, and effective dates.

Payment for Product & Infusion

Medicare will not provide payment for the COVID-19 monoclonal antibody products that healthcare providers receive for free, as will be the case upon the product’s initial availability in response to the COVID-19 PHE. If healthcare providers begin to purchase these monoclonal antibody products, CMS foresees setting the payment rate in the same way it was addressed the rate for COVID-19 vaccines.

In order to ensure immediate access during the COVID-19 PHE, Medicare will cover and pay for these infusions per Section 3713 of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act). CMS proposes to address potential refinements to payment for COVID-19 monoclonal antibody infusions and their administration through future notice and comment rulemaking.

Initially, the Medicare national average payment rate for the administration will be $309.60; this payment rate is strictly based on one hour of infusion and post-administration monitoring in the hospital outpatient setting. In the future, CMS may utilize a similar methodology to determine the payment rate for the infusion of additional monoclonal antibody products based on the expected infusion time in line with the FDA EUA or FDA approval of such products.

CMS is hopeful that this Medicare coverage for the two therapies will help providers overcome the hurdles of acquiring and employing new treatments. Yet, it is a known fact that healthcare facilities and providers are still expected to encounter challenges obtaining an adequate supply of such therapies for infected patients.

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Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has embraced the recommendations of the AMA in regards to Evaluation and Management (E&M). Starting January 1, 2021, these changes will be applicable for coding office and other outpatient services.

Reason

In 2017, CMS brought an initiative “Patients Over Paperwork” to streamline work, increase efficiency, improve patient experience, and reduce administrative burden.

The purpose of this initiative was to revise the existing and archaic E&M coding guidelines. According to CMS, increasing paperwork and reporting tools were the main bottlenecks that kept physicians and medical practices busy.

They were required to spend more time managing administrative tasks instead of caring for patients. It resulted in poor patient experience and monumental administrative tasks that added to the cost as physicians needed to hire additional staff and comply with the government rules and regulations.

What Changes Will Take Effect

History and Tests Removed as Mandatory Elements for Coding. These two components tend to delay clinical decision making and are time-consuming as the clinicians need to document this in the patients’ medical record.

Documents related to Medical Decision Making or Time

Physicians cannot use both these documentation methods for the same patient visit. They need to select either option for each patient visit.

Updated Time-Based Coding

Time is explained as “total time on the date of the encounter.” It includes time spent by authorized healthcare professionals and clinicians for in-person and other modes or non-face-to-face discussions with the patient.

Revised Coding for Prolonged Services

It should be used for time-based coding when the duration of the encounter exceeds the defined time for 99205 and 99215 in 15-minute increments.

Updated MDM Criteria

Using the present CMS Table of Risk as a standard guideline, the MDM elements for code selection were refined and clarified to avoid complexity and increase efficiency patient management.

Restructuring of RVUs and Charges

Considering the RVU guidelines from the AMA’s CPT/RUC Workgroup on E&M, CMS has stated that relative value for the codes is evaluated depending on the total duration spent by a physician from three days before patient’s visit through seven days following the visit as the standard work will be same irrespective of the time when it is completed.

Source: https://www.ama-assn.org/

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