ASC Coding, Billing & Collections

Fifty-five percent of physicians spend at least 10 hours a week on prior authorizations, according to Medical Economics' latest "Physician Report," published Aug. 14.

Reimbursement disparities have caused discord in the ASC sector — even before 2024's CMS cuts.

Centene, Humana and UnitedHealthcare have some of the lowest-rated Medicare Advantage plans for customer satisfaction in their markets, according to J.D. Power's annual Medicare Advantage Study, published Aug. 20.

The number of physicians working in private practice is shrinking, as consolidation and rising costs makes practicing independently less feasible. 

Matt Mazurek, MD, assistant professor of anesthesiologist at the New Haven-based Yale School of Medicine, joined Becker's, to discuss the Stark law issues he's keeping an eye on. 

The ongoing shift toward value-based payment models has left many healthcare executives weighing the pros and cons of the practice compared to more traditional fee-for-service models.

The Justice Department's new pilot program, which rewards whistleblowers who provide evidence of corporate misconduct, could lead to an uptick of whistleblower activity related to private payer fraud, The National Law Review reported Aug. 15

Most physicians expressed disapproval of relative value unit-based pay in Medscape's 2024 "Physicians and RVUs Report." 

On Aug. 1, CMS released the nearly 3,000-page final rules on reimbursement and other inpatient issues, according to an Aug. 7 blog post by Coronis Health. 

Differences in reimbursement between ASCs and HOPDs are an ongoing pain point for surgery centers. However, many opportunities to profit off of specialty procedures remain, regardless.