Webinar for Anesthesia Providers on the ICD-10 ConversionAre You Ready for ICD-10? The Impact on Coding & BillingWednesday, November 20, 2013 at 5:00 p.m. ESTLess than one year from now, the implementation of ICD-10 will impact anesthesia and pain medicine practices across the country. According to CMS, “On October 1, 2014, the ICD-9 code sets used to report medical diagnosis and inpatient procedures will be replaced by ICD-10 code sets.  The transition to ICD-10 is required for everyone covered by HIPAA.”  The delay in implementation by one year gave payors, vendors and practices time to prepare, yet the question to be answered is “Are You Ready for ICD-10?”Anesthesia Business Consultants is offering all interested parties an opportunity to attend an educational webinar on the topic. Darlene Helmer, CMA, CPC, ACS-AN, CMPE, MBA, ABC’s Vice President for Provider Education and Training, will discuss the steps that anesthesia providers should consider taking to...

Written by: Neda Mirafzali, Esq Kathryn Hickner-Cruz, EsqThe Health Law Partners, P.C., Southfield, MISince the passage of the Affordable Care Act1 and the establishment of the Medicare Shared Savings Program (the “Shared Savings Program”), ACOs have become the new hot topic.Section 3022 of the Affordable Care Act provides that Medicare shall establish the Shared Savings Program and that healthcare providers and suppliers will participate in the Shared Savings Program through ACOs. According to CMS, “ACOs create incentives for healthcare providers to work together to treat an individual patient across care settings – including doctor’s offices, hospitals, and long-term care facilities. The Shared Savings Program will reward ACOs that lower growth in healthcare costs while meeting performance standards on quality of care and putting patients first.”2 If an ACO saves money by providing patients with efficient care, then the ACOs can share in a percentage of the savings with Medicare. However, should an ACO fail...