Monthly Archives: December 2014
House Chairmen Announces ICD-10 Hearing
House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Fred Upton (R-MI) and Rules Committee Chairman Pete Sessions (R-TX) recently issued a joint statement on implementation of the ICD-10 coding system and the extension of the effective date until Oct. 1, 2015. The statement indicated that the Committee will hold a hearing on the issue next year and indicates that they have heard from interested parties who were concerned about “falling behind and halting progress.”
The statement references a June 2014 letter to CMS from Chairman Upton, Energy & Commerce Committee Ranking Member Henry Waxman (D-CA), and the Chairmen and Ranking Members of the House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committees regarding measures that should be taken to ensure successful adoption of ICD-10 in Oct. 2015. The letter asks CMS to:
- Provide ongoing information to Congress toward progress on reaching meaningful milestones toward full ICD-10 readiness
- Provide a rationale to Congress for the delay of the ICD-10 end-to-end testing until 2015 and the timeline for the new testing
- Provide regular reports to Congress on completed ICD-10 activities and those in progress, with an expected timeline for those in progress
- Provide more information participation levels by various stakeholders, including any concerns CMS has about a lack of engagement by any segments of the health care community and CMS’ proposed action plan to obtain engagement by those segments
http://energycommerce.house.gov/letter/letter-cms-regarding-implementation-icd-10
January Business Office Training Schedule Available Now
Training will be provided during January on the following business office topics:
- Medicaid Pending
- Direct Deposit
- Resident Trust
- Deferral Strategies
- Bad Debt
- Authorizations and Notifications
- Missing Documents
- Business Office Duties and Frequency
- Weekly Business Office Meeting Template
- Private Collections
Business Office Consultants will conduct the training sessions on the dates provided in the “January Training Schedule.” Employees (excluding employees located in Georgia LivingCenters) can sign up for the sessions by going to the company website and accessing them through the Learning Management System (LMS).
LivingCenter employees in the state of Georgia can sign up for the sessions by going to the company website and accessing them in the new Learning Center.
Resident Trust
Resident Trust was broken into Part 1 and Part 2 for the online (self-paced) training sessions. The ILT session will cover information from both parts; therefore, employees need only to sign up for the Resident Trust Part 1 ILT session.
Questions:
Contact your Business Office Consultant or Director of Business Office Operations
2015 Medicare Therapy Cap Limits Announced
- Executive Directors
- Directors of Nursing Services
- Business Office Managers
- Admission Directors
- Aegis Therapists
- CBO Intake and Billing Staff
- CBO Managers
- CBO Directors
- Directors of Business Office Operations
- Business Office Consultants
Medicare Part B therapy cap limits for service dates Jan. 1, 2015 – Dec. 31, 2015 are as follows:
- $1,940 limit for Physical Therapy and Speech-Language Pathology combined
- $1,940 limit for Occupational Therapy
The Part B therapy cap exception process continues to be in effect through Mar. 31, 2015.
AS/400 Screen Modification
During the evening of Wednesday, Dec. 31, modifications to the AS/400 Therapy Cap Maintenance screen will be made to accommodate the new cap limits for 2015. A screen example is provided in the AS400 Therapy Cap Maintenance Screen.
Questions:
Contact your Medicare Billing Manager in Fort Smith Administrative Center
Benefits News 12-8-14
Emily Gahagan, Assistant DNS for GLC William Penn, Wins the Final Round of the Compliance Crossword Contest
Assistant DNS Emily Gahagan has won the final round of the Compliance Crossword Puzzle Contest, and her team at Golden LivingCenter – William Penn in Lewistown, Pa. will be awarded a catered meal hosted by the Compliance Department with each employee also receiving a HoneyBaked turkey delivered to their home.
Kicked off in August, the Compliance Crossword Puzzle Contest was created to generate enthusiasm for compliance as part of this year’s Compliance is By Your Side campaign.
Four rounds were held in the contest with hundreds of entries overall. Multiple correct entries were selected, so the winners of each round were selected from a random draw of the correct entries.
Round One
Golden LivingCenter – Shafter in Shafter, Calif. won the first round in August.
Round Two
Director of Healthcare Reimbursement Greg LeRoy based in the Golden Living Administrative Center in Fort Smith, Ark. won the second round of the contest with a catered meal held for the Medicaid Reimbursement Department.
Round Three
AseraCare Business Office Manager Wua Vang based at the AseraCare agency in Fresno, Calif. won the third round of the contest.
Thank you everyone for your participation in this year’s Compliance Crossword Puzzle Contest. We hope through your participation you have been able to become more aware of how compliance truly is by your side.
InnerCircle 