Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) started the release of the 2022 final rules, for inpatient psychiatry, inpatient rehabilitation facilities (IRFs), hospice, and skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). And I can sum them up by saying for the majority of our audience, these four rules could not be more boring.

Evaluation and management (E/M) services are likely the most regulated and most often audited services in medical practices. These services can account for more than half of a provider’s income, so it is crucial that they are appropriately documented and coded. A casual approach to E/M coding can result in both improper reimbursement and embarrassing audits. Professional coders in medical practices have a responsibility to...

States that expanded Medicaid in 2014 saw a 45 percent decline in the mean flow of medical debt collections compared to states that chose not to expand Medicaid or those that expanded after 2014, according to a study published in JAMA Network. Medical debt has become the largest source of debt in collections in the US over the past decade.

On July 13, 2021, CMS released the 2022 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rule (Proposed Rule). In addition to the standard proposals related to rate setting for the coming year, the Proposed Rule also includes a number of proposed policy changes, several of which relate to payment for Evaluation and Management (E/M) visits.

CMS has added coverage for 'remote therapeutic monitoring' services in its proposed 2022 Physician Fee Schedule, but for health systems with remote patient monitoring programs, there are still questions about reimbursement.