Policy Statements

CMS Releases 2021 ICD-10 Diagnosis Codes for Physician and Facility Coding On July 9, 2020, the Centers for Medical and Medicaid Services (CMS) released updated codes in the 2021 ICD-10 Procedure Coding System (PCS). These new codes include updated diagnosis codes for spinal and back conditions. These new codes will allow greater tracking and appropriate payment for spine surgery technologies. The new codes will be in effect from October 1, 2020, through September 30, 2021, and were announced in the 2021 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Final Rule in June 2020. Visit the CMS website for the full list of ICD-10-PCS codes and for more information: https://www.cms.gov/medicare/icd-10/2021-icd-10-cm

AMA and Affiliated Organizations Engage in Survey on How Telehealth Impacts Physicians and Their Practices Since COVID-19 started, we have all experienced a significant shift toward telehealth. The American Medical Association (AMA) has been working on a Telehealth Impact Physician survey in collaboration with The MITRE Corporation, Mayo Clinic, and others as part of an effort of the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition. They have invited all physicians to complete the online Telehealth Impact Study—Provider Survey. The study has been approved by the Mayo Clinic Institutional Review Board and is part of our efforts in the COVID-19 Healthcare Coalition to address the pandemic. The goal of this project is to learn more about your experience with telehealth to identify the challenges, barriers, and benefits. […]

Federal Court Overturns District Court Ruling on HHS Authority to Reduce Payments to Off-Campus Provider-Based Practices On July 17, 2020, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit overturned the district court’s decision and ruled that Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) had the authority to cut payments to off-campus provider-based departments for evaluation and management services to make them equivalent to the rate paid to physician offices in 2019. The American Hospital Associaiton, Association of American Medical Colleges, and the other plaintiffs have not yet said whether they will appeal. Separately, they are suing the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the 2020 site neutral pay cuts. To read the Federal Court ruling, click here: [https://www.cadc.uscourts.gov/internet/opinions.nsf/E27BC5B064ED8035852585A80052C843/%24file/19-5352-1852218.pdf]

HHS Offers Online Courses on Telemedicine Rules and Implementation for Providers Starting in July 2020, in an effort to increase utilization of telemedicine by Medicare providers, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) will offer a 10-week series of courses on telemedicine implementation and integration. Although telemedicine use has grown exponentially during the COVID-19 pandemic, many ambulatory providers still lack the knowledge and skills needed to implement video-based telemedicine into their practices. To support wide adoption of telemedicine, the HHS assistant secretary for preparedness and response is partnering with the ECHO Institute at the University of New Mexico and the Public Health Foundation’s TRAIN Learning Network to deliver a 10-week, virtual, peer-to-peer learning community called Telemedicine Hack. The course […]