The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a new voluntary primary care initiative that further demonstrates its intent to invest in and grow chronic care management (CCM).
Two Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) that co-hosted a multi-jurisdictional meeting to discuss efficacy of remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) have announced they will not pursue a local coverage determination (LCD) on RPM and RTM for non-implantable devices.
On May 11, 2023, the U.S. COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) came to an end. While the declaration was largely symbolic, coming more than three years after the PHE was declared, it was still significant from a regulatory perspective in areas including remote patient monitoring (RPM) and telehealth.
One of the more substantial, recent developments in the way healthcare is delivered in the United States concerns remote patient monitoring (RPM), also referred to as remote physiologic monitoring. RPM has technically been around since the early 1970s (with its roots dating back to the 19th century!), but it's been thrown into the spotlight over the past few years thanks to the pandemic and is now experiencing rapid adoption. That comes as no surprise considering the significant and wide-spread benefits of remote patient monitoring.
MultipleMedicare administrative contractors (MACs) recently held a virtual, multi-jurisdictional meeting to discuss efficacy of remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) and remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM). The meeting lasted two-plus hours and included commentary from more than 50 subject matter experts, mostly physicians from various specialties who have experience with RPM and RTM.
The Medicare annual wellness visit (AWV), sometimes referred to as a Medicare annual wellness exam, is an important part of keeping patients healthy. Unfortunately, the requirements concerning completing and documenting AWV appointments can be complex, so it is common for providers to inadvertently miss steps or fail to complete a requirement. In fact, as this Physicians Practice column by Prevounce CEO Daniel Tashnek, JD, notes, a survey from just a few years ago found that upwards of about 85% of Medicare AWVs may fail to meet compliance requirements set forth by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
Some areas of healthcare have evolved at lightning speed over these past several years, with the COVID-19 pandemic and its far-reaching impact accelerating progress with relative ease. Adopted just a few years prior to the public health emergency's onset, chronic care management (CCM) is now solidified as a service and emerging care model — one that is bridging distance gaps and helping chronic disease patients reach and sustain better health for longer. Yet adoption has been slower than one might expect for a service with so many patient care benefits. Is the near-sighted perceived cost of this multifaceted solution deterring patients from taking advantage of it? Before we answer this question, and provide some reasons why patients and practitioners should fully embrace chronic care management, let's gain a better understanding of CCM.
Documentation Requirements for the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit The documentation requirements for the Medicare annual wellness visit (AWV) serve multiple purposes. Most importantly, documentation is critical to maximizing the value of the Medicare AWV to patients. As AARP notes, the Medicare AWV is "… designed to promote the use of preventive care, identify health risks, and plan for future healthcare needs." In addition, the Medicare AWV is an opportunity for patients to meet with providers who can also deliver or schedule preventive services, which we discuss in this blog post that shares HCPCS and CPT codes for billing the AWV and supplementary preventive services.
One of the silver linings of the COVID-19 pandemic was the increased adoption of virtual healthcare services and delivery systems. This includes remote patient monitoring, or RPM. Remote patient monitoring was a concept foreign to most individuals before the health crisis, but that is rapidly changing as providers increasingly adopt the service and enroll their patients. Yet many people still lack a firm understanding of remote patient monitoring, so we thought it would be helpful to dedicate a blog that focuses on the definition of RPM and contrasts the concept of remote patient monitoring with other terms frequently associated with it.
You schedule a patient's first Medicare annual wellness visit (AWV). The patient comes into your organization, or perhaps you meet via telehealth. You furnish the AWV, seemingly checking all the boxes necessary to deliver this critical yearly appointment that helps prevent illness and get your organization paid. And yet a few weeks after submitting your claim to Medicare for the service, it's denied. The reason: You incorrectly used HCPCS code G0438. Denials can lead to increased days in accounts receivable, write-off rates, and overall cost to collect, among other headaches. A study revealed thatmany AWVs conducted and billed may fail to meet compliance requirements set forth by CMS, which can trigger denials or more serious ramifications. If you want to better ensure that your annual wellness visit claims are not denied, you must know how to properly code them. In this piece, we provide you with the HCPCS codes you need to use for annual wellness visits. We also share guidance that should help reduce the likelihood that your organization will experience denials associated with this service and another service commonly associated with the AWV that may trip you up: the initial preventive physician examination (IPPE).
