The G-codes are here for payment claims — ready or not
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
May 23, 2013
Effective July 1, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will begin rejecting claims received for Medicare Part B patients that do not include the new requirement of G-coding. That really means providers...
Looking to open eyes about ‘observations’
By
James M. Berklan
May 01, 2013
Bully for provider groups pulling out the stops to draw attention to the ludicrous mishandling of “observation stay” designations by many hospitals. One prong of the plan is to have providers...
Will there be a ‘real’ CMS administrator soon? It’s looking so
By
James M. Berklan
Apr 03, 2013
If you’re a gambling person, it looks like the odds just got a whole lot better for Marilyn Tavenner becoming the next administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That’s...
Do you know your P’s and Q’s of QAPI?
By
Shelly Mesure, MS, OTR/L
Feb 21, 2013
The Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement system from CMS is on our doorsteps. As facilities have been training and educating themselves, the new QIS (Quality Indicator Surveys) are ready to roll....
CMS wants to know how you make things better
By
John O'Connor
Jul 06, 2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services may be asking you for help this summer. It might behoove you to sit up and take notice.
Sprinkler mandate fails to soak in
By
John O'Connor
May 25, 2012
Ben Franklin warned us that death and taxes are life’s only certainties. But if you run a long-term care facility, feel free to add regulations to that list. And it looks like a doozy of a looming...
CMS ‘overpayment’ rule may come at a greater cost
By
Glenn P. Hendrix
May 02, 2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently issued a proposed rule addressing how it will implement the 60-day deadline for returning overpayments made to federal health programs. If fully adopted,...
Will nursing homes be subcontractors to the stars?
By
John O'Connor
Apr 16, 2012
Nursing homes take care of 1.5 million residents each year. They pump more than $100 billion into the nation’s economy. In many communities, they are the largest source of jobs. But as far as the...