News & Articles
Final Policy, Payment, and Quality Provisions Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for Calendar Year 2021
CY 2021 PFS Ratesetting and Conversion Factor CMS is finalizing a series of standard technical proposals involving practice expense, including the implementation of the third year of the market-based supply and equipment pricing update, and standard rate-setting refinements to update premium data involving malpractice expense and geographic practice cost indices (GPCIs). With the budget neutrality adjustment, as required by law, to account for changes in RVUs including significant increases for E/M visit codes, the final CY 2021 PFS conversion factor is $32.41, a decrease of $3.68 from the CY 2020 PFS conversion factor of $36.09. The PFS conversion factor reflects the statutory update of 0.00 percent and the adjustment necessary to account for changes in relative value units and expenditures that would result from finalized policies....October 5, 2020 – Portal for Reporting How Relief Money Was Spent Opens Jan. 15 — With a Change
The HHS portal will be open for 30 days, and providers have to adopt a new way of calculating revenues lost due to the pandemic. As APTA reported on Sept. 23, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is continuing to provide details on how providers who received relief funds need to account for how the money was spent, with the latest details including a change in how lost revenue should be calculated. That shift has raised concerns, with critics saying that the new approach may increase the number of recipients who have to return funds, and could make it hard for some smaller businesses to even come up with the calculations in the first place. The change is part of a recently announced shift in HHS’ plans for how relief fund recipients are to report use of the money, from a quarterly reporting system to a one-time accounting delivered via an online portal. HHS later confirmed that the portal will open on Jan. 15. Feb. 15 will be the first reporting deadline for all providers on the use of funds, and July 31 will be the final reporting deadline for providers who did not fully expend the funds before Dec. 31, 2020. Information providers can expect to provide for the reporting requirements include lost revenues, expenses attributable to coronavirus, basic organization information, other assistance received in 2020, and non-financial information (employees, patients, etc.). Among the reporting requirements released with the updated guidance on Sept. 19 is a change that has sparked criticism from the American Hospital Association and other organizations — a new definition of “lost revenue”...October 2, 2020 – New CPT Code 99072 Available to PT & OTs Could Help Offset Coronavirus-Related Expenses
Recently, the American Medical Association published an update to the Current Procedural Terminology (CPT®) code set that includes a code for reporting expenses incurred as a result of the necessary public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The code — 99072 — is a new practice expense code that describes the additional supplies and clinical staff time required to stop the spread of the coronavirus while still providing safe in-person visits. According to coding guidance from AMA, the additional supplies, materials, and clinical staff time covered under the new CPT code include additional personal protective equipment, patient symptom checks over the phone and upon arrival, donning and removing PPE, and increased sanitation measures and supplies to prevent the spread of communicable disease. The code should be reported only once per in-person patient encounter (office visit or other services), regardless of the number of services provided during the visit, the guidance says, but the use of the code isn’t dependent on a specific patient diagnosis. The AMA/Specialty Society RVS Update Committee worked with 50 specialty societies, including APTA, over the summer to collect data on the costs of maintaining safe offices and time spent to educate therapists and their patients during the public health emergency. Although 99072 describes “clinical staff time,” AMA notes that the code also can be reported when qualified health care providers perform activities normally carried out by clinical staff, such as pre-visit screening or equipment and room...October 2, 2020 – Renewal of Determination That A Public Health Emergency Exists
As a result of the continued consequences of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, on this date and after consultation with public health officials as necessary, I, Alex M. Azar II, Secretary of Health and Human Services, pursuant to the authority vested in me under section 319 of the Public Health Service Act, do hereby renew, effective October 23, 2020, my January 31, 2020, determination, that I previously renewed on April 21, 2020, and July 23, 2020, that a public health emergency exists and has existed since January 27, 2020, nationwide. The public health emergency has been extended for another 90 days (January 23, 2021) This renewal, in conjunction with the national health emergency declaration issued by the President on March 13, 2020, means that PTs and PTAs in private practice and facility-based physical therapy providers will continue to have access to the temporary Medicare regulatory waivers and new rules that afford providers the flexibility to respond to COVID-19 pandemic, including telehealth coverage. Access the notice...October 1, 2020 – The President signed into law a bipartisan government funding bill that averts a shutdown and will relax Medicare loan repayment terms for healthcare providers.
The bill would give providers one year after the Medicare Accelerated and Advance Payment Program loan was issued before recoupment would begin, an extension from 120 days under current law. The recoupment rate would also be lowered from its current 100% level to 25% for the first 11 months of repayment, and 50% for the six months afterward. Providers would have 29 months after payments to pay back the funds in full before interest would begin to accrue. The interest rate would be lowered from the current rate of 9.6% to 4%. Click here to view the bill. To view the section by section click...2020 Annual Business Meeting
Private Practice During the Pandemic: Lessons Learned
Trump Administration Issues Second Round of Sweeping Changes to Support U.S. Healthcare System During COVID-19 Pandemic
Physical, Occupational and Speech therapists in private practice are eligible to bill Medicare for certain services provided via telehealth
Protected: OSHA-Infections Considerations
...OSHA Town Hall
OSHA expert to remind us of basic housekeeping rules and what additionally needs to considered to address COVID-19 needs.
Opening Up America Again! Re-opening Facilities Phase 1
Read the latest guidelines for Re-opening Facilities to Provide Non-emergent Non-COVID-19 Healthcare.
CMS Reevaluates Accelerated Payment Program and Suspends Advance Payment Program
On April 26, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced that it is reevaluating the amounts that will be paid under its Accelerated Payment Program and suspending its Advance Payment Program to Part B suppliers effective immediately.