BY ALEX TAIRA | NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 2018
The Information Age has revolutionized the health care industry, giving patients and providers greater, more specific access to personal health data. Care coordination operates with greater efficiency through the electronic transfer of personal health information (PHI), and providers and facilities can be reviewed on an expanded range of quality metrics.
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BY KARA NEWBURY | OCTOBER 2018
The 2019 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System Payment Rule that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released at the end of July is the most positive for ASCs since 2009, when the ASC payment system was aligned with the hospital outpatient department (HOPD) payment system.
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BY ALEX TAIRA | SEPTEMBER 2018
In March 2010, after more than a year of development, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). Of particular note was Part III, Sec. 3021, which created a new Center for Medicare & Medicaid Innovation (referred to as CMI in the bill, now commonly known as CMMI) within the larger Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
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BY KARA NEWBURY | AUGUST 2018
Medicare-certified ASCs have been required to have a disaster preparedness plan since 2009. As noted in State Operations Manual Appendix L—Guidance for Surveyors: Ambulatory Surgical Centers, the intent was for an ASC to “have in place a disaster preparedness plan to care for patients, staff and other individuals who are on the ASC’s premises when a major disruptive event occurs.”
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BY KARA NEWBURY | JUNE-JULY 2018
With the ASC Quality Reporting (ASCQR) Program web-based measure deadline of May 15, 2018, in the rearview mirror, it is time to look ahead to the data that will be reported for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ASCQR Program in 2019 for 2020 payment determinations. It also is a good time to review some of the publicly available data on current measures to determine where ASCs can improve.
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BY ALEX TAIRA | MAY 2018
In recent years, health information technology (HIT) has been the talk of the health care industry. Central to this discussion are products known as electronic health records (EHR), systems that electronically capture patient-provider encounter information, securely store the digital information and make it available for future reference. The potential benefits of such a system are boundless: streamlined provider workflows, increased information sharing across sites of service, reduction in medical errors, increased patient access to their health record, better medication tracking and more. Developing and implementing tailored, functional EHRs, however, has been a rocky road even for those with time and resources.
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BY KARA NEWBURY | APRIL 2018
From survey and certification issues to quality reporting and physician payment issues, there is always something happening on the federal regulatory front. One of the primary areas of focus for ASCA regulatory staff is on Medicare payment policy issues, and advocacy efforts related to Medicare’s 2019 ASC payment rule are already underway.
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BY JENNIFER BUTTERFIELD, RN, CASC | MARCH 2018
Constructing or renovating a medical facility is expensive and complicated. Do not make the mistake of believing moving a wall is “no big deal,” and that a regular home builder is up to the task. When it comes to medical construction, consult an expert and get a copy of the 2018 Guidelines for Design and Construction of Outpatient Facilities by the Facility Guidelines Institute.
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BY KARA NEWBURY | FEBRUARY 2018
One of the most heavily discussed policy changes in the calendar year (CY) 2018 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) was the removal of total knee arthroplasty (TKA), CPT 27447, from Medicare’s inpatient-only (IPO) list as of January 1, 2018. While TKA is not on the ASC-payable list, its removal from the inpatient-only list is a positive step toward reimbursement in the ASC setting for fee-for-service Medicare patients.
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BY KARA NEWBURY | JANUARY 2018
During the fall of 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a final rule titled Emergency Preparedness Requirements for Medicare and Medicaid Participating Providers and Suppliers. The regulation became effective on November 16, 2016, and as of November 15, 2017, the 17 health care provider and supplier types that must comply with the rule, including ASCs, began being held to these revised standards during their Medicare surveys.
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