Chronic Care Management Services

Click to access ChronicCareManagement.pdf

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recognizes care management as one of the critical components of primary care that contributes to better health and care for individuals, as well as reduced spending. Beginning January 1, 2015, Medicare pays separately under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (PFS) under American Medical Association Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code 99490, for non-face-to-face care coordination services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries with multiple chronic conditions.

CPT 99490 is defined as follows: 99490 Chronic care management services, at least 20 minutes of clinical staff time directed by a physician or other qualified health care professional, per calendar month, with the following required elements:

> Multiple (two or more) chronic conditions expected to last at least 12 months, or until the death of the patient,

> Chronic conditions place the patient at significant risk of death, acute exacerbation/decompensation, or functional decline, `

> Comprehensive care plan established, implemented, revised, or monitored.

15 things for healthcare leaders to know about Obama’s 2017 budget

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/15-things-for-healthcare-leaders-to-know-about-obama-s-2017-budget.html

 

10 things to know about CMS’ new mandatory cardiac bundle

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/10-things-to-know-about-cms-new-mandatory-cardiac-bundle.html

CMS proposed Monday a new mandatory bundled payment program for heart attacks and bypass surgeries that includes changes to the existing Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model as part of its larger goal to shift Medicare from quantity to quality incentives.

Here are 10 things to know about the proposed rule.

 

Seven healthcare questions the candidates aren’t answering

http://managedhealthcareexecutive.modernmedicine.com/managed-healthcare-executive/news/seven-healthcare-questions-candidates-aren-t-answering?cfcache=true

Hillary Clinton is quick to tout that she will defend the Affordable Care Act (ACA) and build on it to slow the growth of out-of-pocket healthcare costs while Donald Trump vows to repeal the ACA and have a series of reforms ready for implementation that follow free-market principles.

But when taking a closer look at their proposals, Clinton and Trump are keeping mum about some healthcare issues, and that’s raising some critical questions. Managed Healthcare Executive asked industry experts to comment on what topics presidential candidates are being quiet about, and why they suspect they’re not talking about them.

What Are the Top 20 Priciest Medicare Prescription Drugs?

 

High Drug Costs

A look at Medicare‘s top 20 priciest prescription drugs in 2015, ranked by their cost above the program’s “catastrophic” coverage threshold. Medicare’s catastrophic protection kicks in after a beneficiary has spent a given amount of their own money, $4,850 this year. The beneficiary pays only 5 percent, while their insurer pays 15 percent, and taxpayers cover 80 percent. Catastrophic spending is a large and growing share of total costs, threatening to make Medicare’s popular prescription plan financially unsustainable.

Five Health Issues Presidential Candidates Aren’t Talking About — But Should Be

http://khn.org/news/five-health-issues-presidential-candidates-arent-talking-about-but-should-be/

5 things_770

References to the Affordable Care Act — sometimes called Obamacare — have been a regular feature of the current presidential campaign season.

For months, Republican candidates have pledged to repeal it, while Democrat Hillary Clinton wants to build on it and Democrat Bernie Sanders wants to replace it with a government-funded “Medicare for All” program.

But much of the policy discussion stops there. Yet the nation in the next few years faces many important decisions about health care — most of which have little to do with the controversial federal health law. Here are five issues candidates should be discussing, but largely are not:

3 charged in $1 billion scheme to defraud Medicare in Florida, DOJ dubs biggest ever

http://www.healthcarefinancenews.com/news/3-charged-1-billion-scheme-defraud-medicare-florida-doj-dubs-biggest-ever

The owner of more than 30 Miami-area skilled nursing and assisted living facilities, a hospital administrator and a physician’s assistant were charged with conspiracy, obstruction, money laundering and healthcare fraud in connection with a $1 billion scheme involving numerous Miami-based providers, the United States Department of Justice announced.

Assistant Attorney General Leslie Caldwell of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division said in a statement that the charges represent the largest single criminal healthcare fraud case ever brought against individuals by the DOJ.

Philip Esformes, 47, Odette Barcha, 49, and Arnaldo Carmouze, 56, all of Miami-Dade County, Florida, were charged in an indictment claiming that Esformes operated a network of more than 30 skilled nursing homes and assisted living facilities known as The Esformes Network, which gave him access to thousands of Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.

The Facts on Medicare Spending and Financing

http://kff.org/medicare/issue-brief/the-facts-on-medicare-spending-and-financing/

Figure 1: Medicare as a Share of the Federal Budget, 2015

Overview of Medicare Spending

Medicare, the federal health insurance program for 57 million people ages 65 and over and people with permanent disabilities, helps to pay for hospital and physician visits, prescription drugs, and other acute and post-acute care services. In 2015, spending on Medicare accounted for 15% of the federal budget (Figure 1). Medicare plays a major role in the health care system, accounting for 20% of total national health spending in 2014, 29% of spending on retail sales of prescription drugs, 26% of spending on hospital care, and 23% of spending on physician services.1 This issue brief includes the most recent historical and projected Medicare spending data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Office of the Actuary (OACT), the 2016 annual report of the Boards of Medicare Trustees2 and the 2016 Medicare baseline and projections from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO).3

Houston physician gets 3-year prison term for fraud

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/houston-physician-gets-3-year-prison-term-for-fraud.html

Fraud

Healthcare CEO faces life in prison for fraud that led to 2 patient deaths

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/legal-regulatory-issues/healthcare-ceo-faces-life-in-prison-for-fraud-that-led-to-2-patient-deaths.html

Fraud

The CEO and co-owner of a Maryland diagnostics company is facing life in prison after a federal jury convicted him of two counts of healthcare fraud that resulted in death, according to the Department of Justice.

On Wednesday, a federal jury found 67-year-old Rafael Chikvashvili, PhD, guilty of healthcare fraud. Dr. Chikvashvili was the co-owner and CEO of Owings Mills, Md.-based Alpha Diagnostics, which was a portable diagnostic services provider, principally of X-rays.

According to evidence presented at trial, Dr. Chikvashvili was involved in a scheme to defraud Medicare and Medicaid. He and others allegedly conspired to create false radiology, ultrasound and cardiologic interpretation reports. He also allegedly submitted insurance claims for medical examination interpretations that were never completed by licensed physicians, according to the DOJ.

Dr. Chikvashvili allegedly instructed his nonphysician employees to interpret X-rays, ultrasounds and cardiologic examinations, which, according to testimony provided at trial, resulted in two patient deaths.