By Kevin Counihan – For most Americans, April 15 marked the end of this year’s tax season. For others, including those who have yet to file because they requested an extension, tax season is not yet complete. At CMS we work throughout the year to reach out to consumers and help them understand the ways in which their taxes and health care intersect.
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By Bennett Lauber – One of the great things about living near a “destination city” such as Washington DC is that friends and relatives often come to visit. This past Fourth of July week was a perfect example, as my sister-in-law and niece came to visit and to celebrate our country’s birthday in it’s capital city.
By Tim Cannon – During transitions of care, prescriptions get lost or mixed up, collaboration and communication between providers is weak, and many patients fall off the grid. Although EMR systems have the capability to solve these issues in theory, in practice many hospitals are falling behind on Stage 2 meaningful use standards in this area.
Last week we hosted a webinar on preparing for making the ICD-10 transition. Presented by Jim Daley, Health IT Director of BlueCross BlueShield of South Carolina and co-chair the WEDI ICD-10 workgroup, the webinar attracted nearly 800 registrants.
By Edgar Wilson – Achieving interoperability is not just a technical hurdle: it is a challenge to the thinking of medical professionals. With all the current burdens how to get an already overburdened professional class to provide more collaborative care?
By CAPT Alicia Morton & Tricia Lee Wilkins – Improving and streamlining the testing and certification of health IT has long been a goal of ONC. To that end, on June 9th we published a notice in the Federal Register that reintroduced a flexibility included in the ONC Health IT Certification Program that allows the National Coordinator to consider test procedures, test tools, and test data developed by any person or entity for approved use.
After three years of operations, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reported that the agency’s advanced analytics system, called the Fraud Prevention System, identified or prevented $820 million in inappropriate payments in the program’s first three years.
By Peggy Losey – How are you doing with Meaningful Use, PQRS and VBM? Are you using your QRUR as a roadmap to help get you there? Accepting a little road trip advice now will help you prepare for a safe arrival at your destination with minimal detours. CMS recently announced that the implementation of this program has begun. Are you on the right road?
Beginning January 1, 2019 Medicare physician payments will be determined by future adopted rules for MIPS, the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System. Here are three resources we are sharing to get you started.