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Articles by From the College

Coding Corner Questions: A Drug Administration Quiz

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A 70–year-old female patient with rheumatoid arthritis affecting multiple joints who is rheumatoid-factor positive but without organ or system failure returns for her third infliximab infusion. She is scheduled to receive 500 mg of the drug. How should this encounter be coded? 96413, 96415, J1745 x 50; ICD 10: M05.79 96413, 96415, J1745 x 50;…

2018 Annual Meeting Attendees Receive Free ACR Beyond Subscription

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All 2018 ACR/ARHP Annual Meeting attendees received a complimentary, one-year ACR Beyond Streaming subscription. Recipients have access to all of the recorded sessions from the Annual Meeting, as well as more than 500 sessions from past meetings. In addition, they have the opportunity to view recorded sessions from upcoming 2019 educational meetings, including the Winter…

Rheumatology Research Foundation Launches $75M Fundraising Push

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The Rheumatology Research Foundation has embarked on its third and most ambitious fundraising campaign, with a goal of raising $75 million. The Leading Boldly: Transforming Rheumatology campaign will support Foundation programs to recruit the best and brightest into the field, train rheumatology health professionals at all career stages and support investigators conducting research that will…

Quality Payment Program Year 3 Reporting Changes: What You Need to Know

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final rule for the Quality Payment Program (QPP) year 3 (CY 2019) on Nov. 1, 2018. Below, we have compiled a list of key changes to ensure MIPS-eligible clinicians are accurately reporting for CY 2019: New MIPS-eligible clinician types: Physical therapist, occupational therapist, qualified speech-language…

2018 MIPS Reporting via RISE: Are You Ready?

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It’s time to prepare for 2018 MIPS reporting via the Rheumatology Informatics System for Effectiveness (RISE) registry, and the ACR is here to help. To ensure you’re ready to submit your data to the CMS, RISE users should take the following steps: Complete the survey to notify the ACR of your intent to report via…

RheumPAC Champions Recognized

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Election Day 2018 has come and gone, and a new class of legislators will be joining the ranks of Congress in January. RheumPAC is the most important tool we have to establish relationships with our new legislators and this year, our ACR volunteer leaders stepped up and matched all donations to RheumPAC leading up to…

CMS Proposes New Part B Drug Payment Model

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Late last month, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released an advance notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM), seeking feedback on a potential drug pricing model called the International Pricing Index (IPI) model. This comment solicitation is in alignment with the administration’s blueprint to lower drug costs and reduce out-of-pocket costs, and is an…

UnitedHealthcare Retires Fax Numbers Used for Prior Authorization Requests

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Unfortunately, prior authorization continues to be a burden for providers, practices, and patients. Effective Jan. 1, 2019, UnitedHealthcare (UHC) will retire fax numbers used for medical prior authorization (PA) requests. After this date, UHC will require PA requests to be submitted through their Prior Authorization and Notification tool. Providers who can’t submit requests electronically may…

Improve Your Claim Submissions Process

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Maintaining a health revenue cycle in a medical practice comes with myriad moving parts. Numerous external forces, such as economic conditions, government programs (e.g., the Zone Program Integrity Contractor [ZPIC], the Health Information Technology for Economic Clinical Health [HITECH]) and legislation passed under healthcare reform, mandate healthcare organizations to begin managing internal processes, such as…