ASC Coding, Billing & Collections

More than 230 U.S. Representatives and 61 Senators have authored letters urging CMS and the Department of Health and Human Services to finalize a proposal that would require insurers to streamline the prior authorization process for federally sponsored health plans. 

Alta Vista Healthcare & Wellness Centre, a skilled nursing facility in Riverside, Calif., and its management company, Rockport Healthcare Services, agreed to pay the U.S. and California $3.825 million to resolve kickback allegations.

Eleven percent of physicians attribute financial losses to practice issues such as business problems, reimbursement changes and a change in practice setting, according to Medscape's "Physician Wealth & Debt Report 2023."

The Commonwealth Fund released the 2023 Scorecard State Health System Performance report, examining quality healthcare access and affordability by state.

Physicians have alleged that executives within Nashville, Tenn.-based HCA Healthcare pressure hospital staff to persuade patients' families to initiate end-of-life care to boost metrics, according to claims made in a June 21 NBC News report. 

The Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2023 updated exceptions to Stark Law and Anti-Kickback law that will allow hospitals and healthcare providers to improve mental health services for physicians, attorneys from law firm ArentFox Schiff wrote in an article published by…

OptumHealth's network of providers and surgery centers is seeing strong outpatient surgery volumes, especially for hips, knees and senior services.

Harry Severance, MD, an adjunct assistant professor at Durham, N.C.-based Duke University School of Medicine, joined Becker's to discuss how physicians can leverage their power. 

Physicians and ASCs continue to raise concerns about the adequacy of Medicare reimbursement as operating costs continue to soar. 

MedPAC advocated for site-neutral pay for 66 outpatient procedures in a June 15 report, lowering 57 procedures to the office-based care rate and nine procedures to ASC rates.