Denials and poor follow-up processes. Charge entry errors. Accounts receivable (A/R) days well above industry standards. High self-pay balances. Failure to negotiate or load payor contracts. Incomplete operative notes.  By Angela Mattioda, Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management Services - 8/13/18

Greater site neutrality would reduce hospitals' incentives to acquire physician practices and in turn help private insurers secure better prices, according to an analysis from the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy.  By Angie Stewart - 8/13/18

Medical Transcription Billing Co. will pay series A cumulative redeemable perpetual preferred stock holders a monthly cash dividend of $0.22 per share.  By Eric Oliver - 8/13/18

CMS will terminate its Medicare provider agreement with Oklahoma City-based ESEC Surgery Center at 12:01 a.m. Aug. 18.  By Eric Oliver - 8/10/18

Medical Transcription Billing Corp. reported strong revenue growth and record profitability in the second quarter of 2018.  By Angie Stewart - 8/9/18

Short-staffed in IT and the business office, ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) and other providers often seek ways to increase profitability without disrupting workflow or adding resource hours. Part one of this revenue cycle management (RCM) series focused on pre-registration, medical necessity checks, appointment call abandon rate, aged accounts receivable (A/R) and charge description master review as areas to recoup lost dollars. Part two will shed light on five additional tactics to recover revenue.  By Joncé Smith, Vice President of Revenue Cycle Management for Stoltenberg Consulting, Inc. - 8/9/18

U.S. District Judge Lorna G. Schofield sentenced Mustak Y. Vaid, MD, to 18 months in prison for participating in a $30 million scheme to defraud Medicare and the New York State Medicaid program.  By Rachel Popa - 8/8/18

CMS and the CDC's National Center for Health Statistics released changes to the ICD-10-CM guidelines for fiscal year 2019.  By Angie Stewart - 8/7/18

North Dakota has the highest physician Medicare-acceptance rate, while Hawaii has the lowest, according to WalletHub.   By Angie Stewart - 8/7/18

Ontario, Calif.-based Prime Healthcare Services and CEO Prem Reddy, MD, will together pay $65 million to settle False Claim Act allegations against 14 Prime hospitals.   By Angie Stewart - 8/6/18

ASCs should closely and continually examine processes for preauthorization of the patient's procedure, a crucial step in the revenue cycle process, according to Surgical Information Systems Revenue Cycle Services Director Jessica Nelson.  By Angie Stewart - 8/3/18

Five ASC leaders discuss value-based care and what their centers are doing to prepare for outcomes-based reimbursement in the future.  By Laura Dyrda - 8/3/18

Global Payments purchased cloud-based ambulatory physician practice software provider AdvancedMD from Marlin Equity Partners.  By Eric Oliver - 8/2/18

Change is never-ending for ambulatory surgery centers (ACSs). ASCs need to always stay on top of the seemingly nonstop influx of contractual and coding changes, which can have a direct impact on cash flow.  By Jessica Edmiston, Senior Vice President Coding, BS, CPC, CASCC,AHIMA-approved ICD-10 trainer, National Medical Billing Services; and Scott Allen. Vice President Managed Care Contracts, National Medical Billing Services - 8/1/18

Madison-based University of Wisconsin Health selected the Oracle Cloud resource planning system for its seven hospitals and 87 outpatient clinics.  By Eric Oliver - 8/1/18

Patrick DeAngelo joined Modernizing Medicine as its senior vice president and general manager of business services.  By Eric Oliver - 8/1/18

A split-decision in President Donald Trump's administration on allowing partial Medicare expansion caused the president to delay taking any action until after the midterm elections, the New York Times reports.  By Eric Oliver - 8/1/18

Patient financial responsibility has surged in recent years. As a recent TransUnion Healthcare analysis notes, patients in 2017 were responsible for 12.2% of their total healthcare bill in the first quarter of 2017. This compares with just 8% percent of their total bill during the first quarter of 2012. Commercially insured patients experienced a patient balance after insurance increase of a staggering 67% percent, growing from $467 to $781 over the same five-year period.  By Randy Bishop, Partner, Surgical Funds - 8/1/18

Administrator of Amherst, N.Y.-based ASC of WNY JoAnn Vecchio reveals how her surgery center aims to grow within the changing healthcare landscape.  By Laura Dyrda - 8/1/18

Serbin Medical Billing published guidelines for medical record documentation that apply to medical and surgical services in all settings.  By Angie Stewart - 7/31/18