Reed Smith is hosting its 6th Annual Washington Health Care Conference on December 4, 2019 at The Almas Center in Washington, D.C., and is pleased to welcome another impressive line-up of speakers this year. Our keynote speaker is Dr. John Whyte, Chief Medical Officer of WebMD, who will be discussing “Artificial Intelligence in Health Care: … Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a call on June 24, 2015 to discuss its proposed methodology for determining publicly-reported Hospital Compare Overall Star Ratings. The target audience for the call includes hospitals, consumers, researchers, reporters, and hospital associations.… Continue Reading
CMS has announced that it is holding a meeting of the Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment on August 24-25, 2015. The purpose of the Panel is to advise HHS and CMS on the clinical integrity of the Ambulatory Payment Classification (APC) groups and their associated weights and hospital outpatient therapeutic services supervision issues. Presentation … Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a Special Open Door Forum call on May 27, 2015 to discuss eliminating the Certificate of Medical Necessity (CMN) and Durable Medical Equipment (DME) Information (DIF) forms. Comments on the forms also can be sent to ReducingProviderBurden@cms.hhs.gov.… Continue Reading
CMS is proceeding with the application process for the Medicare Shared Savings Program for the January 1, 2016 program start date. Applicants interested in participating must submit a Notice of Intent to Apply by May 29, 2015, and complete the application by July 31, 2015. A CMS call regarding the Shared Savings Program application review process is … Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a June 17, 2015 provider call to discuss the Hospice Quality Reporting Program and the new Hospice Item Set (HIS) Manual (V1.02). The target audience includes quality staff at Medicare-certified hospice programs, including quality and compliance staff, and Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI) program coordinators.… Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a call on June 18, 2015 to present strategies and resources to prepare for ICD-10 implementation. The call will also provide an overview of ICD-10-PCS Section X for new technologies, which will be used by hospitals.… Continue Reading
On June 16, CMS is holding a call on the National Partnership to Improve Dementia Care and Quality Assurance and Performance Improvement (QAPI). The target audience for the call is consumer and advocacy groups, nursing home providers, the surveyor community, prescribers, professional associations, and other interested stakeholders.… Continue Reading
On May 12, 2015, CMS is hosting a call that will provide an overview of all Medicare hospital inpatient quality reporting and value-based purchasing programs. Specifically, the call will cover: the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting (IQR) Program; the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program; the Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP); the Hospital Readmission Reduction Program (HRRP); … Continue Reading
CMS has just announced that it is holding a public meeting on July 16, 2015 to discuss Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule (CLFS) payment for new or substantially revised HCPCS codes for calendar year 2016. At the meeting, the public also will have an opportunity to comment on certain reconsideration requests regarding test code payment … Continue Reading
On May 7, 2015, CMS is hosting a Special Open Door Forum to discuss its plans to use Home Health CAHPS survey results to create Patient Survey Star Ratings for the Home Health Compare website. CMS will provide an overview of the HHCAHPS Patient Survey Star Ratings, describe the methods for calculating the ratings and assigning … Continue Reading
On May 20, 2015, CMS is hosting its final call to discuss paper and clinical templates intended to assist physicians and practitioners in documenting patient eligibility for Medicare home health benefits. … Continue Reading
On April 2-3, 2015, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is meeting to discuss various Medicare policy issues, including: hospital short stay policy; polypharmacy/multiple drug use (focusing on Part D opioid use); Medicare Part D risk sharing; measuring low-value care; using episode bundles to improve care efficiency (including potential refinements to the Medicare spending per … Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a series of calls to discuss its new “Next Generation” ACO Model, which is intended to promote Medicare quality improvement and care coordination. The following upcoming calls are scheduled: • March 31, 2015 — Focusing on financial methodology and related issues; • April 7, 2015 – Focusing on benefit enhancements and beneficiary care … Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a national provider call on April 15, 2015 to discuss the Open Payments program, including the process for physicians and teaching hospitals to review applicable data prior to publication. Registration is required.… Continue Reading
On March 10, 2015, CMS announced the Next Generation Accountable Care Organization (ACO) Model, its latest Affordable Care Act (ACA) innovation initiative intended to promote Medicare quality improvement and care coordination. The Next Generation ACO Model differs from the existing Medicare Shared Savings Program and Pioneer ACO models in several ways. For instance, the Next … Continue Reading
CMS is gearing up for the program year 2016 Medicare Shared Savings Program, under which physicians, hospitals, and certain other types of providers and suppliers may form Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) to provide cost-effective, coordinated care to Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries. CMS has posted the deadlines for applying to the program for 2016 (the notice of … Continue Reading
On April 1, 2015, the FDA is hosting a workshop entitled “Clinical Outcomes Assessment Development and Implementation: Opportunities and Challenges.” The workshop will update the public on ongoing efforts in the use of clinical outcome assessments (COAs), and plan for the future of COA development and utilization in drug development programs. The workshop will also … Continue Reading
On March 18, 2015, CMS is hosting a call to discuss how providers may report once across various 2015 Medicare Quality Reporting Programs, including the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program, the Value-Based Modifier (VM) program, and the Medicare Shared Savings Program. Providers that satisfactorily report will avoid the … Continue Reading
On March 11, 2015, CMS is hosting a call to discuss paper and clinical templates intended to assist physicians and practitioners in documenting patient eligibility for Medicare home health benefits. In announcing the call, CMS notes that the fiscal year 2014 Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) program identified a high proportion of claims with inadequate … Continue Reading
CMS has announced that it is holding series of meetings in May 2015 to discuss pending Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) applications. The meeting dates are as follows: May 7 & 8 — Drugs/Biologicals/Radiopharmaceuticals/Radiologic Imaging Agents May 21 & 22 — Supplies and Other May 27 — Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and Accessories; and … Continue Reading
CMS is hosting a call on Wednesday, February 25, to discuss implementation of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT Act). The IMPACT Act requires the submission of standardized data by long-term care hospitals, skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, and inpatient rehabilitation facilities. On the call, CMS will provide an overview of … Continue Reading
Today CMS is hosting an Open Door Forum call to discuss several Medicare developments impacting hospitals, including changes CMS has made to the recovery audit program to strengthen oversight, reduce the provider burden, and enhance program transparency. The call begins at 2:00 eastern.… Continue Reading
CMS has scheduled a series of provider calls in February and March on the following topics: February 3: Special Open Door Forum on the upcoming Prior Authorization of Non-Emergent Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy model to be implemented in March in Illinois, Michigan, and New Jersey. February 4: Special Door Forum on the introduction of star ratings on … Continue Reading
