Providers are beginning to bridge the gap between medical and mental care, forming partnerships aimed at improving patients’ physical and mental health, and reducing costs at the same time. Such holistic projects are underway in numerous states, including California, New York, Washington, and Florida.
You know your reimbursement process needs attention when the response to an adverse determination is to resend the exact same paperwork through the pipeline. In a few cases, the ROI on a resend appears reasonable, but peel back the band-aid and you will find a process needing attention. Understanding data management is denial management begins the healing process.
Across the country more and more workers compensation organizations are utilizing Workers Compensation Independent Medical Reviews to keep claims on track, and to decrease unnecessary expenditures as they relate to legal proceedings. When choosing an independent medical review network ask if they offer delegation for workers compensation medical reviews. Delegation provides an opportunity for significantly lower administration expenses wile increasing the quality of reviews.
Any serious discussion of patient care and cost containment must include a discussion about utilization review and management. Sometimes these two terms are used interchangeably, while their meanings and processes are quite different in reality.
Understanding and determining medical necessity criteria challenges can be very complex for physicians, clinicians, coders, and billers.
Medical Necessity and Levels of Care (LOC) criteria are interdependent sets of objective and evidence-based health guidelines used to standardize coverage determinations, promote evidence-based practices, and support a patient’s recovery and well-being. Being such, LOC application, documentation, and accuracy plays a pivotal role in care and reimbursement.
Whatever the title, Medical Director, CMO, or similar, the responsibilities loom large with little relief in sight. Burnout, recruitment, and retention might be a larger concern than medical necessity criteria, case shaping, and utilization management. The end of the ACA won't likely make things easier. With that in mind, here are 5 time-saving tips for medical directors.
What if the peer reviewer is out of sync with medical necessity criteria? How would you know? Looking at concordance rates organized by individual reviewers is one way to review the reviewers performance. Concordance Rates- This rate measures of a Peer Reviewers’ decision to authorize, partially authorize, or deny and compares this decision to the care manager’s belief that the case is not meeting Medical Necessity Criteria for that level of care.
Using a 3rd party, unbiased, independent peer review partner to follow medical necessity criteria and make determinations builds trust, increases engagement, and improves system relationships. Dr. Nicholas Fogelson wrote a perspective article about his experience as a peer reviewer for an independent review organization network and how the lessons apply to practicing providers.
As the last week of 2017 closes, BHM looks forward to helping your organization build and grow in the coming year. In three separate articles, healthcare experts commented on major strategies and trends. Their observations in these specific articles apply to what organizations must do for growth in 2017.