As nations are ramping up their efforts to deal with COVID-19, healthcare providers are being proactive in their response to the coronavirus outbreak. These efforts may have a considerable effect on the revenue cycle for health care and the budgets of the providers.

Coronavirus has been a major concern for health care providers on the frontline of tracking and treating infected people. The impact COVID-19 will have on the health-care revenue cycle and financial operations is among their concerns.

Maintaining the billing office in optimum operation during an epidemic is key to keeping hospitals and clinics open to people who are sick and need treatment. But this can be a challenge to respond to COVID-19 demands, particularly for smaller organizations with a limited amount of funds available.

The COVID-19 outbreak also illustrates issues relating to the financial responsibility of patients. Accounts have surfaced of patients left with medical bills of thousands of dollars after seeking care for suspected symptoms of coronavirus. Healthcare providers in the age of high deductible health plans and other cost-sharing programs are struggling to build collection strategies.

Payers recognize the efforts arising from financial responsibility for patients and many are taking steps to ease the process for patients to seek care and for providers to simplify the financial encounter.

This update is provided by CareOptimize. We provide healthcare management consulting services and products and we’ve helped numerous healthcare organizations succeed for more than a decade. We provide managed care solutions as well as products like coding modules, next-generation EHR utilities, MIPS consulting, and more. For more information, please call 855.937.8475.

With the country on edge because of COVID-19 (better known to the masses as the coronavirus), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have revealed new billing codes for testing the virus in labs. With these new billing codes, providers and clinical laboratories can be reimbursed for assisting patients with the virus while keeping a close eye on new cases and conducting tests. The codes have already been adopted by the Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) which is utilized by insurers as well as Medicare for claims processing.

U0001 is the first billing code, released last month and aimed squarely at SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic tests done at CDC research laboratories. The second billing code (U0002) published earlier this week will allow laboratories to bill for non-CDC laboratory tests for SARS-CoV-2/2019-nCoV, or simply, COVID-19.

Per the most recent World Health Organization figures, there are more than 95,000 cases of coronavirus around the world. Of those cases, close to 100 of them are in the United States.

In light of the coronavirus, CMS has also given a call for action to health care providers. The agency recently urged providers to make sure that they are enforcing proper infection control protocols.

This update is provided by CareOptimize. We provide healthcare management consulting services and products and we’ve helped numerous healthcare organizations succeed for more than a decade. We provide managed care solutions as well as products like coding modules, next-generation EHR utilities, MIPS consulting, and more. For more information, please call 855.937.8475.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently found the applicants that will become part of its Emergency Triage, Treat, and Transport (ET3) Model initiative. The five-year payment model will provide increased flexibility for ambulance response services following a 911 call to meet the emergency healthcare of necessities of Medicare Fee-for-Service beneficiaries. The participating applicants are comprised of ambulance providers and service suppliers in more than thirty states, all of which are Medicare-enrolled.

CMS revealed last February the ET3 model is aimed at establishing a new range of opportunities for emergency transportation and care, ensuring that patients receive convenient, effective treatment in the environment they feel is appropriate for them.

The goal was to promote more efficient use of facilities, ensuring that patients are handled expeditiously and fairly by Medicare-enrolled providers and suppliers. The model could result in Medicare savings of more than $500 million a year by sending patients to doctor’s offices versus the emergency room.

Currently, Medicare will only provide payment for emergency ground ambulance services should a patient be taken to certain facilities, usually a hospital emergency room. With ET3, Medicare will pay participating ambulance providers to transport a patient to an alternate destination, such as an urgent care clinic, for example.

This update is provided by CareOptimize. We provide healthcare management consulting services and products and we’ve helped numerous healthcare organizations succeed for more than a decade. We provide managed care solutions as well as products like coding modules, next-generation EHR utilities, and more. For more information, please call 855.937.8475.