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Updated: 4/2/2012

 

Welcome to...

by Healthcare Business Specialists

Mark R. Lynn

RHC Consultant

Email: la_vita_nouva@hotmail.com

Suite 214, 502 Shadow Parkway

Chattanooga, TN  37421

Tele: (423) 899-0945

Fax: (800) 268-5055

Specializing in Rural Health Clinic Reimbursement

RHC Cost Reports - Annual Evaluations - RHC Startups - RHC Seminars


Welcome to the Healthcare Business Specialists home page dedicated to Rural Health Clinics (RHCs).  We have designed this site to provide the latest information on rural health clinics and information on Rural Health Clinic Update and RHC Boot Camp seminars. The seminars cover Medicare cost reporting, billing, annual evaluations, certification, and the operation of  RHCs as certified by Medicare under Public Law 95-210.  We hope that you find the website helpful to you and please let us know if there is something we can do to make the website more useful.

Healthcare Business Specialists is a Chattanooga, Tennessee-based consulting firm which specializes in rural health clinic reimbursement and prepares rural health clinic cost reports, annual evaluations, provider enrollment, and RHC startups.  Mark R. Lynn, CPA (inactive) is trained as a certified public accountant and has over 30 years experience in the healthcare field with almost 25 years of experience devoted almost exclusively to rural health clinics.  We have been conducting rural health clinic seminars for over 20 years. 

                                   Annual Evaluations                                  Cost Reports                                 Cost Report  Reviews                           RHC Startups

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The April 2nd, 2012 issue of HBS Update

2012 HBS Update April 2 2012.pdf


April 2, 2012 This week the RHC Billing and Cost Reporting Seminars will be in London, Kentucky and Indianapolis, Indiana. There is still room all of the locations and we look forward to seeing you there. In Savannah, Georgia and Columbia, South Carolina we will be having Adele Allison at the seminars doing a special session on Patient Centered Medical Home and she will be able to answer all your Electronic Health Records stimulus questions as well. She is an expert in both of these important areas.

The seminar evaluations have ranked the seminars a 4.8 out of 5.0 so far so even through I had to dust a little rust off my presentation skills last week as the seminars started, they were well received and everyone made valuable contacts to help manage their rural health clinics. This week attendees will hear about The Most Profitable Patient in the World, the Chevy Caprice, the Magic Room, and the biggest threat to the RHC program.

People have been asking what the materials will look like at the seminar and here are some of the draft materials from next week’s session.

Draft RHC Presentation for the Billing Portion of the Spring Seminars

2012 Rural Health Clinic Billing Cheatsheet.pdf

2012 Rural Health Clinic Billing Quiz.pdf            

2012 5010 Transition UB-04 Claims Requirement Cheatsheet.pdf

There will be a 300 page Workbook for both the Billing and Cost Reporting Sessions and a DVD full of information on rural health clinic billing and cost reporting. If you want to know what will be on the DVD, here is screenshot of just a fraction of the files that are included on the DVD. The cost for just the Workbook/DVD is $100 per session or $150 for both.  To register, just scroll down to the hyperlinks below or click on 2012 Seminars.


Links to interesting information concerning rural health clinics

This survey of rural health clinics in Missouri was published this week and has some interesting information in it:

                                          http://www.health.mo.gov/living/families/ruralhealth/pdf/2011DataSummaryReport.pdf

                                         http://www.health.mo.gov/living/families/ruralhealth/pdf/2011ComprehensiveDataReport.pdf

This is a very nice two-page cheat sheet on RHC Billing from the Colorado Office of Rural Health.

http://www.coruralhealth.org/programs/rhc/documents/billingreference.pdf

 

Here are a couple of presentations by Captain Corrine Axelrod from CMS on rural health clinics:

http://www.nosorh.org/news/files/axelrod_presentation.pdf

http://www.healthlawyers.org/Events/Programs/Materials/Documents/MM12/papers/H_axelrod_slides.pdf


Rural Health Clinic Medicare Deeming Authority Approved

This article from the law firm Hall Render is very relevant to rural health clinics or those clinics that may become a rural health clinic. Here is the text of the blog and the link to the site.

"On Friday, March 23, 2012, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a final Federal Register notice informing the public that an application for Rural Health Clinic (“RHC”) deeming authority has been approved.  This RHC deeming authority, the first of its kind, was granted to the American Association for Accreditation of Ambulatory Surgery Facilities (“AAAASF”) and expires March 23, 2016.  As a result, in addition to CMS, AAAASF is now able to confirm compliance with the RHC Conditions of Participation.  Providers looking to open a new RHC or to convert a pre-existing clinic to RHC status will therefore be able to obtain a survey to confirm compliance with the Medicare Conditions of Participation on an expedited basis as compared to the ordinary Medicare survey process.

This is an important development since the current survey process for new RHCs is subject to a tiered priority system that serves to delay CMS/State Agency surveys for new RHCs.  Specifically, CMS has implemented a four-tiered priority system.  Under this system, subject to certain exceptions, highest priority for new surveys is given to Tier I providers (e.g., statutorily mandated surveys of existing nursing homes) while lowest priority for new surveys is given to Tier IV providers (e.g., surveys performed only if tier one through tier three surveys are completed). 

Currently, RHCs are classified as Tier III providers.  Practically speaking, this means that many providers applying for new RHC status must wait for long periods of time (often up to a year) before being able to obtain an RHC survey.  We understand from AAAASF that unannounced surveys will be conducted within approximately 45 days after completed application materials have been received..." To read the rest of the article: go to the following link or to go directly to the accreditation website go to the next link.

http://blogs.hallrender.com/rural-health-clinic-medicare-deeming-authority-approved

http://rhcaccreditation.org/index.html

 

 

The March 23th, 2012 issue of HBS Update

HBS Update for March 23 2012.pdf

Description

Page

RHC Seminars are just around the corner. Sign Up Now!!!!

2

Sample listing of items on the Seminar DVD

3

Patient-Centered Medical Home Seminar information

4

Trailblazer loses appeal and Novitas is the new MAC for Jurisdiction H

6

Part B ee Schedule has increased 962% faster than RHCs over…

7

Become a Fan of Healthcare Business Specialists on Facebook

10

RHC Update Seminars

12

 

Here are some sample presentations from our seminars next week.

Draft RHC Presentation for the Billing Portion of the Spring Seminars

2012 Rural Health Clinic Billing Cheatsheet.pdf

2012 Rural Health Clinic Billing Quiz.pdf

Many of you have received our two-page brochure or Postcard and if you have never been to our website before, we welcome you. If you would like to register for the RHC Seminars the registration is now open and live. We are doing the seminars a little differently this year to give you more options. With more options, there is more confusion, so if you have any questions just email them to Mark Lynn at la_vita_nouva@hotmail.com or call me at (423) 243-6185 (my cell phone) and I will try to answer any questions you have. Here is the RHC registration form that you can fax to me at (800) 268-5055 or scan and email to me. Here is the link:

2012 RHC Billing and Cost Report Registration Form (7 pages).pdf

This is the Postcard that many should have received in the mail:

2012 RHC Update Seminars PostCard 4 by 6.pdf

This is the brochure that was mailed as well:

2012 RHC Seminars Brochure (2 page mailer).pdf

Online Registration is live and you can register by clicking on the following hyperlinks. There is an online registration form for each of eight seminar locations. If you have questions, or get confused when registering multiple people from the same clinic for different seminars, you may want to use the Registration form above and only use one per person. You can always, just email me if you have any questions.

Birmingham, Alabama                                  Nashville, Tennessee                                London, Kentucky

Indianapolis, IN                                             Savannah, Georgia                                    Columbia,SC

Little Rock, Arkansas                                  St.Louis, Missouri

 


If you are having problems using the IACS portal to retrieve your P S and R report, this 8 page report will guide you through the process of selecting the report and printing it.

http://www.cms.gov/psrr/downloads/QuickGuideProviders.pdf


 

The March 9th, 2012 issue of HBS Update

http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Bad-Debt-Collection-Procedures-to-Change--Provider-based-Billing-Presentation.html?soid=1103464106823&aid=QESNGtTQoRc


Our latest 19 page newsletter with lots of Information regarding rural health clinics. Here is the Table of Contents and the link below. The issue includes a the bad debt collection process to change, the PRRB to offer Non-binding arbitration on physician compensation issues, and other issues. Here is the Table of Contents:

Description

Page

Bad Debt Collection Process to Change

2

PRRB to offer Non-binding arbitration on Physician Comp.

4

CMS proposes 10 year look-back review of provider payments

5

PA and NP Salary Survey

6

Tenncare Quarterly Reports

7

Provider-based Billing Presentation

8

ACO Survey is on its way to Rural Health Clinics. Look for it!!!!

11

RHC Update Seminars

13

2012 HBS Update March 9 2012.pdf

 


 

Provider-Based Rural Health Clinic Billing Presentation


If you are interested in what type of material will be presented at our upcoming seminars, the following presentation on provider-based clinics is a good representation of the type of information that will be presented in the seminars:

2012 Provider Based Billing Presentation in March 2012.pdf

 


 

The February 24th, 2012 issue of HBS Update


 

Our latest 19 page newsletter with lots of Information regarding rural health clinics. Here is the Table of Contents and the link below. The issue includes a sample of the benchmark information that will be presented in our cost report seminars. This information will only be released at the cost report seminar and will not be on the website.

 

Description

Page

The 2012 RHC Cost Report Workbook was mailed

2

The 60-day Rule and the 30-day Explained

3

Benchmarks for Physicians, Nurse Practitioners, and PAs

4

Medicare now covers Weight Loss Counseling

7

Mental Health Services in a rural health clinic

8

Annual Evaluation Template Updated

9

ACO Survey is on its way to Rural Health Clinics. Look for it!!!!

11

RHC Update Seminars

13

2012 HBS Update February 24 2012.pdf

 

 

 

The February 17th, 2012 issue of HBS Update


Our latest 21-page newsletter with lots of Information regarding rural health clinics. Here is the Table of Contents and the link below.

Description

Page

Bad Debt Reimbursement Reduced with SGR Fix

2

Are your charges and coding keeping pace

4

Office of Civil Rights and HIPPA audits

7

Annual Evaluation Template Updated

9

Medicare Preventive Services

10

Medicare Part B Fee Schedule avoids a 27% cut

11

ACO Survey is on its way to Rural Health Clinics. Look for it!!!!

12

RHC Update Seminars

13

2012 HBS Update February 17 2012.pdf

 


 

Become a Fan and like us on Facebook


February 17: We have a Facebook Fan page which is filled with information on a daily basis regarding rural health clinics. Why wait till Friday to find out what is going on?  Become a fan by following the link and liking us.

http://www.facebook.com/pages/Healthcare-Business-Specialists/123096777748776


February 16, 2012: This note from Bill Finerfrock from the NARHC came in this evening.

The House and Senate negotiators included language in their agreement to phase-down the amount of Medicare bad debt RHCs and CAHs can claim from 100% to 65% over three years beginning in January, 2013. Because this is a phase down rather than an immediate cut, there is an opportunity (beginning next year, this year is shot) to try to get this rescinded or limit the amount of the cut. In effect, Congress is cutting Medicare payments to RHCs and CAHs to partially pay for the temporary SGR “fix”.

Write off all the bad debts that you can in 2012, so you claim 100% of the bad debt on the cost report; before your reimbursement is limited to 65%


 

February 15, 2012:  I noticed that we are getting a lot of hits for the annual evaluation template that we updated in 2010. Today, I updated our template to consider patient centered medical home and information on HIPPA Risk Assessments. Here is the link to the updated document:

 Annual Evaluation Template revised on February 15, 2012 (36 Page PDF)

Additionally, this form was emailed to the NARHC Listserve today regarding patient satisfaction. This form ties in nicely with the annual evaluation.

2012 Annual Evaluation satisfaction survey from NARHC Listserve on February 15 20102.mht

There are a lot of questions regarding preventive services and this presentation may have most of the answers you need. This is from Highmark Medicare Services and was presented on January 24, 2012. Highmark is planning another presentation on Preventive Services in late March or early April, so watch their website for more information.

https://www.highmarkmedicareservices.com/calendar/parta/pdf/tc-handouts-012412.pdf

More on Preventive Services. This is The Guide to Medicare Preventive Services, 4th Edition, March, 2011.

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/mps_guide_web-061305.pdf

The following links take you to the CMS - Medicare Preventive Services website as well as a listing of Medicare publications that will assist you with billing preventive services, Quick Reference Chart, basics of the IPPE Exam, ABCs of the Annual Wellness Exam and a listing of education products including brochures to hand out and distribute to your patients. 

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/35_PreventiveServices.asp

https://www.cms.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/SE1142.pdf

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/MPS_QuickReferenceChart_1.pdf

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/MPS_QRI_IPPE001a.pdf

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/downloads/AWV_Chart_ICN905706.pdf

http://www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/Downloads/education_products_prevserv.pdf

http://www.medicare.gov/Publications/Pubs/pdf/10110.pdf


February 14, 2012:  Many of you have received our two-page brochure or Postcard today and if you have never been to our website before, we welcome you. If you would like to register for the RHC Seminars the registration is now open and live. We are doing the seminars a little differently this year to give you more options. With more options, there is more confusion, so if you have any questions just email them to Mark Lynn at la_vita_nouva@hotmail.com or call me at (423) 243-6185 (my cell phone) and I will try to answer any questions you have. Here is the RHC registration form that you can fax to me at (800) 268-5055 or scan and email to me. Here is the link:

2012 RHC Billing and Cost Report Registration Form (7 pages).pdf

This is the Postcard that many should have received in the mail:

2012 RHC Update Seminars PostCard 4 by 6.pdf

This is the brochure that was mailed as well:

2012 RHC Seminars Brochure (2 page mailer).pdf

Online Registration is live and you can register by clicking on the following hyperlinks. There is an online registration form for each of eight seminar locations. If you have questions, or get confused when registering multiple people from the same clinic for different seminars, you may want to use the Registration form above and only use one per person. You can always, just email me if you have any questions.

Birmingham, Alabama                                  Nashville, Tennessee                                London, Kentucky

Indianapolis, IN                                             Savannah, Georgia                                    Columbia,SC

Little Rock, Arkansas                                  St.Louis, Missouri

If you would like to subscribe to our weekly newsletter on rural health clinics, just email la_vita_nouva@hotmail.com and type subscribe or use the Constant Contact form above. For even faster information, friend me on Facebook and look for the daily links that I post. Here is a sample of today's (February 14th) posts.

                                1. Administration makes $9.1 million available for primary care in underserved areas

                                2. President Obama proposes 2013 budget (impact on healthcare)

                                3. CMS to examine ICD-10 implementation timeline

                                4. 10 Evolving Issues for Hospitals, Health Systems, Physicians & ACOs

To view the links to these articles and more, friend me on Facebook by clicking the link below:

budget/http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=534825756&ref=tn_tnmn

February 14, 2012:  Here is some really neat data from the CMS regarding payment, frequency, and charges of some of your most common CPT codes. This data is raw and in the form of an Excel Spreadsheet.

Part B Raw Data of CPT Codes from 2009 Data with average charge, average payment and Frequency

 


A Case Study of a Rural Pediatric Practice conversion to a Certified Rural Health Clinic


February 11, 2012: Healthcare Business Specialists released a case study (white paper) on the development of a rural health clinic.

Case Study (White Paper) on the Development of a Rural Health Clinic


 RHC Cost Report Workpapers Notebook Complete


The RHC Cost Report Workbook for 2011 cost reports is complete and will be Fed Exed to our Cost Report clients next week. If you would like for us to prepare your cost report, please email Mark Lynn at la_vita_nouva@hotmail.com as soon as possible while I still have some availability. The entire Cost Report Notebook is available to download online. Here are the links to the PDFs for each chapter of the 200+ page book, plus a presentation on a Cost Report Audit Issues I presented for the Indiana Rural Health Association last summer.

2011 Indiana Rural Health Association Cost Report Audit Issues including Physician Compensation and supporting documents.pdf

 

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers Tab 1 (New Information - Preventive Services - Form 222).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers - Tab 2 (339 Questionnaire and Form 838 Credit Balance Report and Instructions).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workbook - Tab 3 (Medicaid Cost Report Information).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpaper Notebook -Tab 4 (RHC Workpaper Checklist - Audit Program - Instructions from MACs.pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers - Tab 5 (Trial Balance of Expenses and Work Program).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpaper Notebook -Tab 6 (Reclassifications - Payroll - W-2s - Lab Reclassification).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers Notebook - Tab 7 (Adjustments - Accruals - Physician Compensation - Physican Compensation Tables - Depreciation Schedules).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers Notebook  - Tab 8 (Visits - Visit Counts - CPT Frequency Reports - Provider Time Studies).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers - Tab 9 (Influenza and Pneumococcal Injection Logs).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers Notebook - Tab 10 (Influenza & Pneumococcal Invoices).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpaper Notebook - Tab 11 (P S & R Report - New Medicare Preventive Charges Workpaper - IACS Instructions).pdf

2012 RHC Cost Report Workpapers Notebook - Tab 12 (Medicare Bad Debts - Bad Debt Form - Bad Debt Checklist - Bad Debt Instructions).pdf

Before we get off the cost reporting issue, remember that if you accrue expenses for owners, they must be liquidated within 75 of year-end (March 15th this year due to the leap year) and clinics have one year to liquidate expenses to non-owners (with an exception of up to 3 years). These rules do not apply to sole proprietorships or partnerships. The rules are a little complex, so here is the link to the Federal Register.

http://edocket.access.gpo.gov/cfr_2007/octqtr/42cfr413.100.htm

RHC Billing and Cost Reporting Seminar Update

A couple of reminders about the seminars. If you are in Tennessee, the Comptroller of the Treasury will be at the cost reporting session to discuss the proper completion of the Tenncare Quarterly Report. There is not a lot of guidance on this report and it has a tremendous effect on your overall reimbursement. This is a great chance to ask your questions to the Tenncare officials that are responsible for the Quarterly settlements and rate setting.

In Nashville, Birmingham, Savannah, and Columbia, SC, Adele Allsion will be presenting from 1:00 to 3:00 on Patient Centered Medical Homes. If you are not familiar with this concept, Adele is an expert in this area and will help you learn why this accreditation can improve patient care and increase your clinic's profitability. All clinics, not just rural health clinics will be interested in hearing what Adele has to say about this exciting program. Here is some information from SuccessEHS's website to help you understand the concept.

SuccessEHS has turned its expertise to the patient-centered medical home model (PCMH) in compliance with NCQA-PPC-PCMH since 2007 and has enumerable clients that have received this recognition all over the country. SuccessEHS feels very strongly about this model of care delivery for purposes of quality improvement, care coordination and reduced health care costs. Believing, at the end of the day, the PCMH initiative is really not about technology, but delivering quality of care and value to the patient, SuccessEHS is committed. As part of its software and specialized services, SuccessEHS offers practice redesign and NCQA-PPC-PCMH Certification Consulting Services to its clients.

For additional information on how SuccessEHS can help with PCMH recognition, please contact Adele Allison at 888.879.7302 or adelea@successehs.com or enter your information to download your free PCMH whitepaper.

RHCs and CPT Coding

In St. Louis, Carolyn Duncan will be speaking about CPT Coding and rural health clinics. This session will last from 1:00 to 3:00 in the afternoon and is back by popular demand. Carolyn presented at our St. Louis seminar last year and was outstanding. Wit h the changes to Medicare Preventive services and the complexity of coding the preventive claims, 5010 transition, and ICD -10 implementation just around the corner, this session is very important for RHCs and coders to avoid future slow downs in cash flow.

 


 CMS announces corrected RHC rate for 2012


February 6, 2012:

I am completely revising the 2012 Medicare Workpaper Notebook with updated forms and content. I should be finished in the morning and will Fed Ex (2-day) to our clients by mid-week. Here is some of the information from the book that you can use to help get your information ready for cost reporting.

2012 Medicare Cost Report Checklist for Rural Health Clinics

2012 Medicare Cost Report Model Workpapers for Rural Health Clinics (12 Tabs)

CMS announces revised rate for RHCs for 2012. The new maximum cost per visit is $78.54.

CMS Corrected RHC Reimbursement Rate for 2012 - January 30, 2012

 


 HBS Update for February 3, 2012


Our latest newsletter dated February 3, 2012 includes information on a change to the maximum RHC reimbursement rate for 2012, a new study on rural health clinics and high tech, something on negative reimbursement from Trailblazer, an update on the 3-day rule and Trailblazer losing the MAC contract for their region.

HBS Update February 3, 2012 (17 Page PDF)

To Register for our seminars, email, fax, or mail this form to us or register online

2012 RHC Billing and Cost Report Registration Form (7 pages).pdf

Look for this Postcard in the mail:

2012 RHC Update Seminars PostCard 4 by 6.pdf

Look for this brochure in the mail as well:

2012 RHC Seminars Brochure (2 page mailer).pdf

Here is a cheat sheet from for 5010 Claims Processing based upon the February 2nd, 2012 HRSA Technical Assistance phone call. If you would like the slides from that phone call, here is the link:  Slides (PDF - 1 MB)

This is the cheatsheat that includes all 81 Form Locators from the UB-04 and instructions on how each form Locator should be completed. Plus, at the end it has a reference guide with several great links that will help you with RHC billing.

2012 5010 Transition UB-04 Claims Requirement Cheatsheet.pdf

 

Its time for RHCs to start trying figure out how to get the P S and R report from Medicare. Here is a good two document to help you get started. We will have full instructions when our Cost Report Notebook is finished next week. This should get you started. If you want to start accumulating information, you can use the 2011 checklist for now. I provided a link to it as well: 

https://www.cms.gov/psrr/downloads/Registration_Tips_FI_MAC.pdf

2011 RHC Cost Report Checklist.pdf

 

Pinnacle Business Solutions has a good Excel Spreadsheet for the accumulation of Bad Debts. Here is a Link to the spreadsheet.

 http://www.pinnaclemedicare.com/provider/parta/ar/EXHIBIT5BADDEBTS.xls

 

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

 

  

RHC Billing and Cost Reporting Seminars   

    

January 31, 2012

 

Well, it has been two weeks since I announced the seminars and I have  not completed the registration forms or updated the website yet. We  had a little emergency trip to Arizona, California, and Kentucky to  clinics that received State inspections and were not up to date on  their annual evaluations, so remember that is a condition level  

deficiency. The annual evaluation must be completed annually in  order for the clinic to stay in compliance with RHC regulations.

  

We did get a couple things done in regards to the seminars.  Carolyn Duncan will be back in St. Louis (April 27th, 2012) for a special session on CPT coding for rural health clinics from  1:00 PM to 3:00 PM and the cost will be $100.00 for this session.  You can go to this, if you do not want to attend the cost reporting session.  More on this session as I prepare the materials for it.

  

We did get a confirmation that the State Comptroller's Office in  Tennessee will be attending the Nashville meeting. They can explain any questions you have regarding the quarterly Tenncare  

Report. Julie Rogers and Greg Hawkins are conformed for this meeting.

 

We have also confirmed that Adele Allison from SuccessEHS (http://www.successehs.com/) will be presenting on "Rural Health Clinics and Patient Centered Medical Home Status" at several of the  

locations. So far we have Birmingham, Savannah, and Columbia, SC  as locations for Adele to present from 1:00 to 3:00 PM on patient  

centered medical homes. The cost for this session is $125.00 and can be attended instead of our cost reporting session. More on this as we firm up the details.

 

By the end of the week registration will be live on our website at www.ruralhealthclinic.com and we will be sending out another  email with information on how to register.   

 


 HBS Update January 16, 2012


January 16, 2012:  Several people have been asking about our RHC seminars for 2012. I am working on the materials and how to sign up at this time; however, if you want to save the date. Here are the locations and the dates. This year we will be doing something different. We will be doing a morning seminar on Billing from 9:00 to 12:00 and and an afternoon seminar on cost reporting and annual evaluations from 1:00 to 4:00. We wanted to spend more time in these basics as some people have been having problems in these areas and we wanted to go back through the basics to ensure everyone understood the basics.  The Seminar schedules will be as follows:

Billing:  The cost of this session is $200.00 and includes the booklet/handouts and DVD.

9:00 to 9:55       The Building Blocks - What to do once you have become a rural health clinic - How to get Started.

10:00 to 10:55  How rural health clinic billing differs from RBRVS billing and some basic concepts/

11:00 to 12:00  The Ten Most difficult Questions to answer regarding RHC billing and how to increase the revenues of your RHC.

Lunch is on your own.

Cost Report: The cost of this session is $200.00 and includes the booklet/handouts and DVD

1:00 to 1:55      What is the cost report, why it is important, what can go wrong, base year strategies, MACs, what is needed to complete a cost report.

2:00 to 2:55       Preparation of the cost report. Counting Visits. Physician compensation issues, Working with the MACs, Appeals, Preparing Workpapers, and a sample cost report.

3:00 to 3:55        Annual Evaluations. Why they are important? How to conduct one?  When are they due? Files to assist you in preparing them.

If you go to both sessions, the cost will be $300.00. Here are the locations, dates, and hotels.

Date                               City                                      Hotel
March 29, 2012       Birmingham, Alabama       Embassy Suites
March 30, 2012       Nashville, Tennessee          Embassy Suites
April 5, 2012            London, Kentucky              Country Inns and Suites
April 6, 2012            Indianapolis, Indiana           Med-Mate Corporate
April 19, 2012          Savannah, Georgia                Hyatt Regency
April 20, 2012         Columbia, South Carolina     Embassy Suites
April 26, 2012         Little Rock, Arkansas           Embassy Suites
April 27, 2012         St. Louis, Missouri                 Crowne Plaza
 

May 1, 2011. The latest newsletter on Rural Health clinics is attached below:

                                            2011 HBS Update May 1 2011.pdf

Description

Page

Seasonal Vaccines would be a condition of participation under proposed rules affecting RHCs

2

HIT Grant Announced

6

More Technology Information

7

How  new  RHCs should process claims. Worksheet 14.

8

CPT Coding Presentation by Carolyn Duncan, CPT, CPT-H

10

This is the form that RHCs can use to settle with Cahaba during the start up process.

2011 Retroactive Recognition Worksheet from Cahaba called Worksheet 14 for Part B claims during the new startup phase.xlsx

This presentation on CPT Coding will be conducted on May 6, 2011 in St. Louis.

2011 CPT Coding Presentation by Carolyn Duncan in St Louis MO on May 6 2011.ppt

 


 HBS Update Newsletter Dated April 5, 2011


We just completed the April 5, 2011 HBS Update Newsletter. There is a lot of interesting reading information in this newsletter regarding rural health clinics. As a reminder the RHC Update seminars start on Thursday in Nashville and Friday in Knoxville. It is not too late to register. Here is the table of contents to the April 5th newsletter.

HBS Update Newsletter Dated April 5, 2011

Please check out our sponsors for the RHC Update Seminars

Indianapolis, IN       http://www.medmate.com/

Columbia, SC       http://www.mdeverywhere.com/

 

Description

Page

Have RHCs reached the tipping point?

2

Numbers, Numbers, Numbers

4

RHC Reimbursement

5

General Information on Medicare and Medicaid

6

Cahaba and Trailblazer mail P S and R reports

7

Status of Proposed Rules and Republican budget would kill RHCs

8

Patient Centered Medical Home

9

Electronic Health Records Notes from NARHC meeting

10

RHC Update Seminars

16


 HBS Update Newsletter Dated March 31, 2011


I just wanted to remind you that the RHC Update seminars are starting next Thursday, April 7th in Nashville and April 8th in Knoxville. The seminars start at 9:30 AM in the morning so it is easy to drive in to them without paying for a hotel. The seminar in Nashville is really getting full, so let us know soon if you want to go. Also, cost reporting is in full swing, so get your information into me as soon as possible. I am looking forward to seeing you at the seminars this spring. You may want to check our website (www.ruralhealthclinic.com) in the next few days to view some of the presentations that will be made next week.  

If you missed the NARHC conference in San Antonio last week you missed Susan Harr, MPR, CPHIMS, program director of the Iowa Foundation for Medical Care (the Iowa Regional Extension Center) rave about the service of SuccessEHS based in Birmingham, AL. If you want to know more about their product and about EHR stimulus payments attend our Nashville meeting and hear Adele Allison, National Director of Government Affairs from SuccessEHS speak. Additionally, the Nashville seminar will feature Julie Rogers, Marsha Holman, and Greg Hawkins from the Comptroller’s office discussing how to properly complete the Tenncare Quarterly Reports. This is very important for Tennessee RHCs as a very large majority of the benefit of being a rural health clinic is derived from these reports and there are no written instructions. This is your chance to ask questions regarding this important subject.

 Great news for clinics that have Cahaba as your MAC. Cahaba mailed out P S and R reports last week, so look for them in the mail soon. The IACS system is still causing problems for providers and very few are able to retrieve their reports. Thankfully, Cahaba recognized this problem and mailed the reports. Hopefully, the other MACS will follow suit.

Bad news is that the $505 fee went into effect on March 25, 2011 for new RHCs and recertification (you will be recertified every 5 years and have to complete an 855A in some cases). Clinics will use pay.gov to pay the fee using a credit card or echeck. Sorry, I did not get every 855A completed by the deadline. We gave it a good effort; but, the NARHC meeting in San Antonio got in the way. 
Washington is the rules for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) will be released today. I would review those regulations closely before you are purchased by a hospital or physician group, just to make sure the merger still makes sense. The rules will guide provider organizations in setting up exchanges of healthcare data to improve care and reduce costs, as mandated under the Accountable Care Act.
Speaking of EHR Stimulus payments, they are real and being paid out. The government has sent out $37 million so far in stimulus payments. Get your share. Find out how my coming to our seminars this spring.
http://www.healthcareitnews.com/news/cms-has-paid-out-37m-ehr-incentives-so-far
If you missed the presentation by Marjorie Young, Executive Director of Pine Medical Group, Fremont, Michigan at the NARHC meeting you missed a lot of real world information on how to become an accredited patient centered medical home. I was surprised how fast they achieved accreditation. It only took them 3 weeks to achieve Level 1 and 3 months to get to Level 3 if my memory serves me correctly. Here are some resources if you are interested in this next step in this new healthcare delivery of care model.
NCQA Standards can be found here:
http://www.ncqa.org/tabid/631/Default.aspx
This is the service Pine Medical uses for e-prescribing:
http://www.surescripts.com/connect-to-surescripts/pharmacy-software.aspx
This is the patient registry service that Pine Medical uses:
http://www.wellcentive.com/index.html

 


 
 Spring, 2011 RHC Update Seminars