The 2014 Annual Participation Enrollment Program allows eligible physicians, practitioners, and suppliers an opportunity to change their participation status by December 31, 2013. Due to the later than usual release of the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule, CMS is extending the 2014 annual participation enrollment period through January 31,...

Rule would give hospitals and ASCs flexibility to lower per-case costs On November 27, CMS released a final CY 2014 hospital outpatient and ambulatory surgical center (ASC) payment rule that will give hospitals and ASCs new flexibility to lower outpatient facility costs and strengthen the long-term financial stability...

CMS has a new web page focused on the 2013 claims denials associated with a beneficiary’s incarceration status.

Final Rule Focuses on Improved Care Coordination On November 27, CMS finalized payment rates and policies for 2014, including a major proposal to support care management outside the routine office interaction as well as other policies to promote high quality care and efficiency in Medicare. CMS’ care coordination policy...

The next Special Open Door Forum: Final Rule CMS-1599-F: Discussion of the Hospital Inpatient Admission Order and Certification; 2 Midnight Benchmark for Inpatient Hospital Admissions is scheduled for Thursday December 19, 2013 from 1:00pm – 2:00pm, ET. If you wish to participate, dial 1-866-501-5502; Conference ID: 16505942. Please see...

Coming this December 2013, Novitas will begin to direct customers to the Medicare Coverage Database (MCD) for retired LCDs and previous versions of currently active LCDs. This change will provide our customers with a more robust LCD search functionality. The Medical Policy page of the Novitas Solutions website will...