The use of telemedicine and telehealth, fueled by the pandemic, are quickly solidifying its place as a permanent facet of modern healthcare. Within telehealth, some of the most positive — and exciting — developments are occurring with the use of remote patient monitoring (RPM). The expanding usage of RPM, also referred to as remote physiological monitoring, is improving patient health outcomes, reducing the overall cost of healthcare, and improving the quality of life for many patients with chronic diseases. One of the most beneficial uses of RPM is for those suffering from heart failure. Outpatient care techniques that leverage home monitoring for heart failure management are proactively working to reduce the rates of acute exacerbation, keeping heart failure patients out of the hospital and healthier for longer than ever before.
In an unusual development — albeit a welcomed one — the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has issued a correction to the 2021 Medicare physician fee schedule final rule that clarifies several areas of confusion concerning the billing requirements for remote patient monitoring (i.e., remote physiological management).
From its creation in 1984, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) has been a significant influence in healthcare, helping to recommend and determine the most beneficial and effective clinical preventive services. With the goal of creating a positive impact on the health of all Americans, the Preventive Services Task Force reviews and updates existing clinical preventive service guidelines and evaluates new preventive service recommendations. Through the diligent work of USPSTF, practitioners are armed with the most reliable and current clinical prevention tactics available, helping them to create a positive and lasting impact on the health and wellness of their patients. Want to learn more about providing and getting paid for preventive services? Check out our detailed guide! Or read on to learn about six things you should know about the Preventive Services Task Force.
This quick guide from Prevounce provides brief background information on the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and then identifies ACA preventive services and the CPT codes that correspond with each service. Along with the CPT codes, the guide identifies patient eligibility for each service. When listing all associated CPT codes would be impractical for a guide of this nature, we have provided a link to a webpage that provides the CPT codes you should use. Want to learn more about providing and getting paid for preventive services? Check out our detailed guide!
In this blog, we'll discuss what some practitioners consider to be a pesky service: the Medicare wellness visit, also referred to as the Medicare annual wellness visit or AWV. For various reasons, the very phrase "Medicare wellness visit" can instill a sense of loathing and dread. Confusing and unclear language concerning Medicare wellness visit guidelines can leave practitioners confused, potentially resulting in missed income opportunities for practices and missed preventive care opportunities for patients. However, the downsides of skipping the Medicare wellness visit are worse: harm to your bottom line and potentially harm to your patients if they do not receive this essential service elsewhere.
Prevounce Health, creators of the Prevounce Care Coordination Platform, congratulates Alexandra (Ola) Baczynski, the recipient of the first Prevounce Preventive Health Graduate Scholarship.
Prevounce Health, creators of the Prevounce Care Coordination Platform, congratulates Alyssa Johnston, the recipient of the first Prevounce Preventive Health Undergraduate Scholarship.
Update: The story below provided a brief overview of this breaking news. As of 2022, the information remains accurate. If you are interested in learning about noteworthy changes for 2022, view an on-demand webinar here.
For practitioners, preventive services, such as Medicare's annual wellness visit (AWV), are an important offering and should be a significant part of the day-to-day operations of every primary care practice. When furnished effectively and appropriately, preventive services are typically no cost to patients, encourage improved patient health and wellness outcomes, and increase practice revenue while decreasing practitioner risk — all while positively impacting our nation's out-of-control annual healthcare spending. Want to learn more about providing and getting paid for preventive services? Check out our detailed guide!
If you came to this blog looking for instructions on setting up a Medicare annual wellness visit (AWV) template for your practice, you won't find that here. But don't go anywhere! We provide a link to a blog at the end of this piece that explains how to create an AWV template. The reason we put it at the end is because we think it's important to explain a few of the most significant reasons why your practice should not default to using a paper template or rigid electronic template (e.g., fillable PDF). Our guidance is largely centered around the fact that at its core, the AWV is a fairly complex set of requirements that have the potential to lead to compliance pitfalls.
