The submission window for MIPS Performance Year (PY) 2020 closes on March 31, 2021. As one year closes another begins, and now is the time that practices should be preparing for their 2021 MIPS reporting. For the new year, the MIPS annual program requires submission of data in four categories—Quality, Promoting Interoperability (PI), Improvement Activities (IA) and Cost. In this blog, we will briefly go over actions to be taken throughout the year for submission in PY 2021 so that our readers can be better prepared for the next MIPS reporting period.

Last week, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule with updates on policy changes for Medicare payments under the Physician Fee Schedule, going into effect on January 1, 2021. This final rule includes updates to payment policies as well as new guidelines and regulations related to telehealth. To keep our readers informed on how to be best prepared for the coming year, this blog will offer some highlights on the 2021 Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule.

Luckily, 2020 is coming to an end… and many of us are probably ready to happily put it behind us. But what’s in store for us in the year to come? After all the things 2020 has put us through, many of us can’t help but look at 2021 with a mixture of skeptical anxiety and hopefulness. Because the truth is that we have no idea whether things are going to get better or worse… but we hope better. To help our readers understand what they should look forward to in the new year, here is a list of things specialty practices should expect in 2021.

On October 30, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced the publication of its final 2020-2025 Federal Health IT Strategic Plan. Developed by the HHS ONC in collaboration with 25 federal organizations and formed with input from 100 public comments, this plan outlines federal goals and objectives for Health Information Technology (Health IT) and focuses specifically on the access of individuals to their electronic health information.

Halloween is upon us once again, little gremlins. This year’s Halloween was supposed to be legendary. It’s on a Saturday… on a full moon (a rare blue moon, to be exact)... and marks the end of Daylight Savings Time. Rarely is there such a perfect setting for Halloween antics! Alas, it was not meant to be. With social distancing and such, this year’s Halloween celebration won’t be the epic party that so many of us anticipated. But hey, at least we get to keep wearing masks for the rest of the year… so there’s that, I guess? In the ongoing horror show of 2020, what are most of us doing on a Halloween where we can’t have huge costume parties? Howl at the big blue moon, I guess… and binge watch scary movies, of course! In honor of the most sacred Halloween tradition of huddling together to watch horror movies, we give you the Top 10 ICD-10 Codes for Horror Movie Survivors.

In addition to the Information Blocking updates we discussed in a recent blog post, the 21st Century Cures Act Final Rule also requires use of Cures Act Edition certified software. This will include some new and revised certification criteria. Providers will need to have their EHR updated with these new requirements in time for the 2022 reporting period. Is your EHR provider ready?

The information blocking requirements of the Cures Act Final Rule will take effect on November 2, 2020. This means healthcare providers have barely a month to ensure they are in compliance or risk financial penalties. When it comes to allowing proper access to information as required by HIPAA, commonly called “Right of Access,” regulatory entities have already begun cracking down on violators. In 2019, the Office for Civil rights (OCR) at HHS had announced its intention to more aggressively enforce the rights of patients to have prompt access to medical records without being overcharged for it.

The American Medical Association (AMA) recently released a broad update to CPT codes for 2021, including guidance for several new codes related to COVID-19. This update to the CPT code set was reviewed and approved by the CPT Editorial Panel convened by the AMA. This is seen as a rather significant event because it is the first AMA overhaul of office visit and outpatient E/M coding in more than 25 years. These new code changes range from 99201 to 99215 and are proposed to be adopted by CMS on January 1, 2021.