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HHS as Announced May 11, 2023 as the end date for COVID19 PHE

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 19:37:03 GMT

Join SPPM for a Webinar covering -What the End of COVID 19 PHE Means to Your Practice
Presented By: Vicki Myckowiak, J.D.

LIVE Event April 18, 2023 9am PDT 10am MDT 11am CDT 12pm EDT

Based on current COVID-19 trends, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is planning for the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE) for COVID-19, declared under Section 319 of the Public Health Service (PHS) Act, to expire at the end of the day on May 11, 2023.

Pain Management Practices have implemented and followed many of the emergency guidelines for 3 years.

To smoothly make the transition, Vicki Myckowiak, J.D. will provide an update on the areas that pertain to many Pain Management Practices that will be affected.

Topics covered will include:

Medicare telehealth
Medicaid telehealth
Access to buprenorphine for opioid use disorder treatment in Opioid Treatment Programs
Access to expanded methadone take-home doses for opioid use disorder treatment
Medicare and Medicaid waivers and broad flexibilities for health care providers
The ability of health care providers to safely prescribe controlled substances via telemedicine

Upcoming Telehealth Policy Changes

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 19:37:03 GMT

HHS Administration’s plan is to end the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) on May 11, 2023.

The CMS recently published policy updates for Medicare telehealth services.

Medicare Clinician Services:
CMS clarified that temporary telehealth services added during the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency (PHE) will continue through the end of Calendar Year 2023.
Telehealth services provided in the office setting will continue to be paid at the non-facility rate (higher payment) through the end of Calendar Year 2023.
CMS will not implement new codes for remote therapeutic monitoring (RTM) as initially proposed.

2021 E/M Updates

Thu, 28 Mar 2024 19:37:03 GMT

CE Medical Group Blog Post

2021 E/M Updates

By Melissa Billman, Director of Billing at CE Medical Group

There are many billing and coding updates coming in 2021 to be prepared for. SPPM and C E Medical Group has collaborated to help summarize them for you. Here are the key changes highlighted in this post.

Key Changes to E/M Coding:

99201 has been deleted.
History and physical exam as elements for code selection was eliminated.
More Additional detail added to coding description and guidelines to promote payer consistency.
Guidance added on when comorbidities and underlying diseases are to be counted for medical decision making.
Physicians now choose whether they document based on MDM or total time.

AMA states the key reasons behind the changes are:

“Eliminating history and physical exam as elements for code selection. While significant to both visit time and medical decision-making, these elements alone should not determine a visit’s code level.
Allowing physicians to choose whether their documentation is based on medical decision-making or total time. This builds on the movement to better recognize the work involved in non-face-to-face services like care coordination.
Changing medical decision-making criteria to move away from simply adding up tasks to instead focus on tasks that affect the management of a patient’s condition.”