CMS Cost Data Collection Picture Becomes Clearer Puzzle Pieces Line Up! After several weeks of dissecting the upcoming Federal Cost Data Collection mandate, the puzzle pieces of this new requirement are starting to line up to create a picture of what’s to come. We continue to monitor the clarifications as shared by the Centers for […]
Medicare Changes Proposed Last Week Big news hit the ambulance industry’s electronic inboxes last week, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the calendar year 2020 Proposed Rule with revisions to Payment Policies under the Physician Fee Schedule including Other Changes to Part B Payment Policies. Two ambulance industry changes were embedded […]
CMS Announces New ET3 Model A Valentine from Medicare! The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI) sent out a Valentine greeting yesterday announcing a new payment pilot program that the ambulance industry will eventually greet with much love. Using a staged announcement located at a fire house […]
CMS Releases AIF and PUF for Calendar Year 2019 AIF Announced The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued Transmitttal 4172 (Change Request 11031) on November 30th to announce the Ambulance Inflation Factor (AIF) for Calendar Year 2019 (CY 2019). The ambulance industry will benefit from a positive gain again this year with the […]
CMS Opens Wider Window with Templates Open Door = Open Window Just a few weeks ago, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) opened a wider window for those of us in the ambulance industry to take a look at the future direction for supporting documentation expectations. Part of the Patients Over Paperwork Project, […]
Ambulance Industry Legislation Update In this space… Over a few month we reported in this space about legislation in several States that had the potential to impact the ambulance industry in a big way. Since those posts, there have been some positive developments on a few fronts. Pennsylvania Legislation Passes The new State budget passed […]
Other Methods of Transportation are Contraindicated Medical Necessity Defined We talk a lot about Medical Necessity in the ambulance billing office. Medical necessity and Reasonableness are key in determining whether or not an insurance payer is obligated to pay for ambulance transport, especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Title XVIII of the Social Security Act […]
Dissecting “The Misunderstoods”- Part II- Billing for SCT Bloggers note- early last year we posted a popular 2-part series talking about a subject we affectionately called “The Misunderstoods.” Because we periodically field questions about these two levels of service and the complexity of documenting properly to obtain maximum reimbursement, we’re offering up the series again […]
Other Methods of Transportation are Contraindicated Medical Necessity Defined We talk a lot about Medical Necessity in the ambulance billing office. Medical necessity and Reasonableness are key in determining whether or not an insurance payer is obligated to pay for ambulance transport, especially for Medicare and Medicaid patients. Title XVIII of the Social Security Act […]
Why is S. 967 So Important to the Ambulance Industry? Part IV S.967- Part IV Today we land Part IV of our blog posts dedicated to helping us all understand the importance of Senate Bill 967 entitled the “Medicare Ambulance Access, Fraud Prevention and Reform Act of 2017.” In that opening post, we explained that […]
