Stalled membership numbers, hospital business mar Teladoc’s Q2 beat
Executives on a conference call stressed per-member revenue metrics and touted new contracts, including with major Blues payer HCSC, but investors pushed shares down.
UHS posts Q2 profit, but executives warn delta variant could stress labor challenges
“The concern is with the resurgence of COVID that turnover rates could increase because we’ve seen turnover rates increase every time that COVID volumes increase,” CEO Marc Miller said.
Humana warns of ‘uncertainty’ in medical usage amid rising COVID-19 cases
Medical utilization bounced back faster than the payer expected, though the company was still able to post a profit for the second quarter.
Systems can nudge more healthcare workers to get vaccinated through targeted messaging: JAMA report
Among unvaccinated workers at Geisinger’s system in Pennsylvania, an email nudge playing up social norms and virus risk caused more than twice as many employees to register for a shot compared with those who didn’t get the note.
Amwell snaps up 2 digital health startups in $320M longitudinal, behavioral care bid
The acquisitions won’t result in an immediate boost for Amwell’s topline, but could be valuable strategic positioning for the future.
How the pandemic has accelerated digital payments in telehealth
Digitalization can simplify the medical bill payment process and give patients more information earlier on about their financial responsibilities, experts said.
Molina sees bump in coronavirus inpatient costs as delta variant takes hold
Those COVID-19 costs quickly tapered off as the quarter progressed, executives said. Still, the insurer was able to post a second quarter profit as more members sought care.
COVID-19 impact on US healthcare system will stretch for decades, Fitch says
In the long term, hospitals will face increased pressure from tight labor and wage markets, especially for experienced staff, as well as rising pharmaceutical and supply chain costs, the ratings agency warned.
CHS profit down in Q2 but buoyed by non-COVID-19 care
Jefferies analysts said in a Thursday note they view the results positively, especially a jump in surgeries and “healthy organic growth trends.” Still, CHS’ stock was trading down about 8% Thursday morning.
NEW 2021 CPT Code Set released by the AMA
American Medical Association (AMA) reported that is has published the first major overhaul in more than 25 years to the codes and guidelines for office and other outpatient evaluation and management (E/M) services in the release of the 2021 Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) code set.
These foundational modifications were designed to make E/M office visit coding and documentation simpler and more flexible, freeing physicians and care teams from clinically irrelevant administrative burdens. The changes to CPT codes ranging from 99201-99215 are proposed for adoption by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on Jan. 1, 2021.
The E/M office visit modifications include:
- Eliminating history and physical exam as elements for code selection.
- Allowing physicians to choose the best patient care by permitting code level selection based on medical decision-making (MDM) or total time.
- Promoting payer consistency with more detail added to CPT code descriptors and guidelines.
The AMA has developed an extensive online resource library that includes a checklist, videos, modules, guidebooks, as well as other tools and resources to help transition to the revised E/M office visit codes and guidelines. The revised E/M office visit codes are among 329 editorial changes in the 2021 CPT code set, including 206 new codes, 54 deletions, 69 revisions. The CPT code set continues to see growth in new and novel areas of medicine, with the majority (63 percent) of new codes this year involving new technology services described in Category III CPT codes and the continued expansion of the Proprietary Laboratory Analyses (PLA) section of the CPT code set.
Changes to the CPT code set are considered through an open editorial process managed by the CPT Editorial Panel, an independent body convened by the AMA that collects broad input from the health care community and beyond to ensure CPT content reflects the coding demands of digital health, precision medicine, augmented intelligence, and other aspects of a modern health care system. This rigorous editorial process keeps the CPT code set current with contemporary medical science and technology, so it can fulfill its vital role as the trusted language of medicine today and the code to its future.
Among this year’s important additions to the CPT code set are new medical testing services sparked by the public health response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The CPT code set has been modified with several code additions and revisions that have been approved for immediate use and published for the 2021 CPT code set.
The CPT code set continues to be modified to respond to the fast pace innovation among digital medicine services that can improve access to health care and improved health outcomes for patients across the country. This is illustrated by new codes for retinal imaging and external extended electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring.
The addition of code 92229 for retinal imaging with automated point-of-care, and revision of codes 92227 and 92228, better support the screening of patients for diabetic retinopathy and increase early detection and incorporation of findings into diabetes care. Innovative solutions like the augmented intelligence technology described by new code 92229 have the potential to improve access for at-risk patient populations by bringing retinal imaging capabilities into the primary care setting.
Technological advances in the field of continuous cardiac monitoring and detection have prompted the addition of codes 93241, 93242, 93243, 93244, 93245, 93246, 93247, 93248, along with associated guideline revisions. These codes will replace Category III codes 0295T, 0296T, 0297T and 0298T, which were deleted. These new codes utilize an innovative algorithmic technology that works in concert with a patch that is much easier to wear for patients and provides more accurate and complete data for physician interpretation.
To assist the healthcare system in an orderly annual transition to a newly modified CPT code set, the AMA will release each new edition four months ahead of the January 1 operational date and develop an insider’s view with detailed information on the new code changes.