Does this make sense to you? While many Providers are struggling to survive insurance companies’ earnings were ten times their 2010 earnings. Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts alone reported a net of $136.1 million in 2011. Their reported earning s in 2010 was $13.4 million. Blue Cross Blue Shield was not the only one [...]
If your Practice still depends heavily on Medicare patients don’t you think it is time to mitigate the risks? Monday, Feb 13, 2011 President Obama is expected to submit the 2013 budget proposal which will cut more than $360 billion from Medicare, Medicaid and other healthcare programs over the next 10 years, according to a [...]
In my years as a consultant I have faced many professionals with great ideas about new businesses and I found that there are two commonalities on every opportunity; money and customers. These are very simple concepts that at time we forget as enthusiasm and belief in our product or service tends to cloud our judgment. [...]
Good news, Stage 2 meaningful use has been postponed until 2014. Based on the slow adaptation of meaningful use and the technology challenges that meaningful use represent this portion of meaningful use has been pushed back one year. The reality is that even meaningful use stage 1 has been difficult to obtain and many Practices [...]
Recently CMS issued a release postponing enforcement of HIPAA 5010 until Mar 31st 2012. That will be good news to those concerning themselves with enforcement issues. However this delay doesn’t meant that there is a retrieve on the transactions requirement. As a matter of fact CMS issued a clarification where they explain that enforcement is [...]
The good news is that we will not see a 29.5% reduction in Medicare fees. The bad news is that CMS continues to consider a 27.4% reduction in Medicare fees. In a time that we are facing an economic crisis there is no questions that any kind of reduction could results catastrophic for the healthcare [...]
I’ve described information security as a Cold War, requiring constant investment and vigilance to innovate faster than the hackers and criminals who are stealing data to commit identity theft. I’m spending an increasing percent of my resources on regulatory compliance and data protection. Over the past year, Federal and State governments have: 1. Specified standards [...]
February 29th, 2012 is the last day for eligible professionals to register and attest to receive an incentive payment for calendar year 2011. At first I thought that Meaningful use was limited to the Electronic Records and their ability to capture data in a specific format. Then I realize that there was more to it. [...]
The International Classification of Diseases (ICD) is an international standard used to classify diagnosis. This provides the medical community with a standardized method in classifying diseases and other health problems. The ICD is currently managed by the World Health Organization (WHO). It is a set of codes that are grouped together by the type of [...]
In case you don’t know what 5010 stands for it is basically a software upgrade in the transmission of electronic claims. As of January 1st 2012 all electronic transmissions should meet HIPAA 5010 standards. The problems as it stands right now is that very few offices are ready for this transition. The Medical Group Management [...]
