Aetna Introduces a Five-Midnight Medicare Payment Policy
As discussed in my prior articles, Medicare Advantage (MA) organization payments incorporate a beneficiary’s health risk, as determined by diagnoses that map to Centers for
As discussed in my prior articles, Medicare Advantage (MA) organization payments incorporate a beneficiary’s health risk, as determined by diagnoses that map to Centers for
As discussed last week, payments to Medicare Advantage (MA) plans are adjusted to account for expected healthcare resource consumption by enrollees. Higher risk scores increase
In an ideal world, every diagnosis code you submit to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would be backed by bulletproof documentation –
The shift from fee-for-service to value-based care (VBC) is reshaping how healthcare organizations are reimbursed and evaluated. In this new environment, success hinges not only
The traditional narrative that risk-adjustment coding is exclusive to Medicare Advantage (MA) is no longer accurate. In 2025, commercial insurers, particularly those managing Patient Protection
Hospitals nationwide are preparing for significant regulatory shifts driven by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS). The FY 2026 Inpatient Prospective Payment System
A listener, who is a risk adjustment program manager, asked me to elucidate when a congenital condition code is appropriate. She was most interested in
As providers expand the use of telehealth, HHS will continue to include select telehealth and telephone-only services in its risk-adjustment programs. Hierarchical Condition Category (HCC)
The number of conditions a patient has is now going to factor into the risk adjustment score (RAS). EDITOR’S NOTE: Dr. Erica Remer reported this
Audits are being conducted by payers on being cost-effective with “wastage” of medication. When it comes to the JW modifier for discarded medication, there are
The 2019 CMS risk adjustment model is version 23. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released, in April, the latest update to the
Risk adjustment has been used to entice payers and providers to accept patients with multiple chronic conditions along with those patients who are relatively healthy.

Get clear, practical answers to Medicare’s most confusing regulations. Join Dr. Ronald Hirsch as he breaks down real-world compliance challenges and shares guidance your team can apply right away.

Federal auditors are zeroing in on Inpatient Rehabilitation Facility (IRF) and hospital rehab unit services, with OIG and CERT audits leading to millions in penalties—often due to documentation and administrative errors, not quality of care. Join compliance expert Michael Calahan, PA, MBA, to learn the five clinical “pillars” of IRF-PPS admissions, key documentation requirements, and real-life case lessons to help protect your revenue.

During this essential RACmonitor webcast Michael Calahan, PA, MBA Certified Compliance Officer, will clarify the rules, dispel common misconceptions, and equip you with practical strategies to code, document, and bill high-risk split/shared, incident-to & critical care E/M services with confidence. Don’t let audit risks or revenue losses catch your organization off guard — learn exactly what federal auditors are looking for and how to ensure your documentation and reporting stand up to scrutiny.

Learn how to navigate the proposed elimination of the Inpatient-Only list. Gain strategies to assess admission status, avoid denials, protect compliance, and address impacts across Medicare and non-Medicare payors. Essential insights for hospitals.

Accurately determining the principal diagnosis is critical for compliant billing, appropriate reimbursement, and valid quality reporting — yet it remains one of the most subjective and error-prone areas in inpatient coding. In this expert-led session, Cheryl Ericson, RN, MS, CCDS, CDIP, demystifies the complexities of principal diagnosis assignment, bridging the gap between coding rules and clinical reality. Learn how to strengthen your organization’s coding accuracy, reduce denials, and ensure your documentation supports true medical necessity.

Denials continue to delay reimbursement, increase administrative burden, and threaten financial stability across healthcare organizations. This essential webcast tackles the root causes—rising payer scrutiny, fragmented workflows, inconsistent documentation, and underused analytics—and offers proven, data-driven strategies to prevent and overturn denials. Attendees will gain practical tools to strengthen documentation and coding accuracy, engage clinicians effectively, and leverage predictive analytics and AI to identify risks before they impact revenue. Through real-world case examples and actionable guidance, this session empowers coding, CDI, and revenue cycle professionals to shift from reactive appeals to proactive denial prevention and revenue protection.

Sepsis remains one of the most frequently denied and contested diagnoses, creating costly revenue loss and compliance risks. In this webcast, Angela Comfort, DBA, MBA, RHIA, CDIP, CCS, CCS-P, provides practical, real-world strategies to align documentation with coding guidelines, reconcile Sepsis-2 and Sepsis-3 definitions, and apply compliant queries. You’ll learn how to identify and address documentation gaps, strengthen provider engagement, and defend diagnoses against payer scrutiny—equipping you to protect reimbursement, improve SOI/ROM capture, and reduce audit vulnerability in this high-risk area.

Only ICD10monitor delivers what you need: updates on must-know changes associated with the FY26 IPPS, including new ICD-10-CM/PCS codes, CCs/MCCs, and MS-DRGs, plus insights, analysis and answers to your questions from two of the country’s most respected subject matter experts.
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