Claims Processing

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced that hospitals will see a slight increase in Medicare payments in 2014.

Medical claims denials are a hassle and can lead to financial difficulties and yet so many of them can be easily avoided.

Since providers must be able to pay rent and staff salaries if the transition to ICD-10 does not flow smoothly, experts advise having up to several months' cash reserves or access to cash to avoid potential headaches.

As healthcare delivery and reimbursement models transition to ensuring quality care versus quantity of care, some sectors of the healthcare industry will benefit more than others.

Some of the most challenging aspects for payers to prepare for operating on the exchanges have to with the basics, such as products, rates and service models.

Real-time claims processing can result in financial benefits, so healthcare technophobes need to get on board.

If the states not expanding Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act stay with their decision, those state governments will collectively spend $1 billion more on uncompensated care in 2016 than they would have had they expanded Medicaid, says a recent RAND Corporation study.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 2014 proposed rules for the hospital outpatient prospective system, released earlier this week, offer payment increases and "packaging" of services.

Geographic variations in Medicare medical treatment costs can differ among episodes of care for certain conditions and not only across but within regions, according to a new study from the Center for Studying Health System Change.

Patients are responsible for nearly one-quarter of their medical bill on average through the cost of co-pays, deductibles and co-insurance, according to the latest National Health Insurer Report Card from the American Medical Association (AMA).