NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—While the new International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-10-CM) codes offer greater diagnostic precision, their implementation will require training of clinicians, coders, and other staff to minimize payment denials or delays from both public and private payers. Brian Outland and colleagues from the American College of Physicians in Washington,…
How Medicare’s Chronic Care Management Payments Could Affect Primary Care
(Reuters Health)—Medicare’s new “chronic care management” (CCM) payment program could make it more financially feasible for physicians to deliver services between visits. Under the new program, Medicare could reimburse primary care practices about $40 month for such things as medication management and communication with other doctors for patients who have two or more chronic medical…
Reforms Needed to Address Medical Diagnostic Errors
CHICAGO (Reuters)—Most Americans will fall victim to at least one diagnostic error in their lifetime, and when this occurs, it often can be deadly, according to a new report released on Tuesday by the Institute of Medicine, which advises the U.S. government and policymakers. The report called for greater emphasis on improving diagnoses in the…
Chronic Care Management Payments Can Increase Primary Care Revenues
NEW YORK (Reuters Health)—Medicare’s new chronic care management (CCM) payments could boost revenues for primary care practices, but many could experience net losses due to opportunity costs of face-to-face visit time, according to results from a modeling study. “The loss of revenue when MD’s did all the work themselves was somewhat surprising,” Dr. Sanjay Basu,…
Arthritis May Contribute to Poverty
Researchers recommend rheumatologists factor in a patient’s ability to pay when determining treatment, because their study found that an arthritis diagnosis may substantially affect patient finances…
Poverty May Increase Odds of Repeat Hospitalizations
(Reuters Health)—When patients are hospitalized more than once in the same month, it may have more to do with their income or education levels than the quality of care they received, a U.S. study suggests. Perhaps unsurprisingly, patients 85 and older are more likely to return to the hospital within 30 days of being sent…
Preparing for the Transition to ICD-10
The transition to ICD-10 is not just another yearly diagnosis codes update; it is a complete overhaul. This not only will affect providers, but also all payers, vendors and stakeholders are being affected by the expanded ICD-10 code sets through medical coding operations, software systems, reporting, administration, registration and more. With approximately 20 days before…
Engaging Patients to Enhance Rheumatology Research
It takes a great deal of time and money to produce clinical practice guidelines for rheumatic diseases. No matter how well a treatment inhibits inflammatory cytokines, it won’t lower disease activity without one essential factor: patient compliance. “You can’t propose a treatment algorithm in your research that no patient would actually use,” says Veena Ranganath,…
EULAR 2015: Innovations in Rheumatology Education, Practice
ROME, Italy—The European League Against Rheumatism (EULAR) annual congress (EULAR 2015) was a much-anticipated event, with more than 14,000 delegates attending from far and wide. The Health Professional Standing Committee was particularly delighted to have planned a program that provided the latest in research terms but also an eclectic mix of valuable topics for health…
Walk-in Medical Kiosks Find Place in Telemedicine
Technology is taking medicine and the Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic to unexpected places. The famed institutions are testing a new way to deliver medical care, with walk-in kiosks mobilized to reach patients who may be too far away, too short on time or facing other challenges that keep them from a traditional doctor’s office…
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