Editor's Note The last day of the OR Manager Conference saw perhaps its most inventive breakout session yet. The ambulatory surgery center (ASC) leadership roundtable panel led attendees through an education-filled hour marked by games, interaction, and trivia. “Technology is the way of the future, it is here, and we…

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A lot has happened with ASC quality measure reporting in the last 2 years, especially this year, says Gina Throneberry, MBA, RN, CNOR, CASC, director, education and clinical affairs, Ambulatory Surgery Center Association (ASCA). Throneberry spoke at the ASCA annual conference in April. In the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid…

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Editor's Note The Joint Commission announced on September 13 that it is reviewing its standards and requirements that go beyond the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) conditions of participation in the Medicare and Medicaid programs to determine whether some should be permanently retired. “As the [COVID-19 public health…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 27 updated its Overall Hospital Quality Star Ratings for 2022—giving 429 hospitals a five-star rating, based on their performance across five quality categories, the July 27 Becker’s Hospital Review reports. There also were: 890 hospitals that received a…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on July 15 released its Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) proposed rule that would raise rates by a net 2.7% in CY 2023. This update is based on the projected hospital market basket percentage increase of 3.1%, reduced by 0.4%…

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Editor's Note A female patient in Chicago, Illinois, filed a lawsuit on July 7 against the multinational UnitedHealth Group for alleged underpayment of telehealth services, Becker’s Payer Issues July 8 reports. The lawsuit claims that the woman’s insurance plan covers telehealth services, including pay benefits for-out-network services. After receiving out-of-network…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its Medicare physician fee schedule proposed rule for 2023, “which suggests further cuts to physician pay while inflation and the cost of running an independent practice continue to rise,” Becker’s ASC Review July 8 reports. The proposed rule would…

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Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently updated its State Operations Manual (SOM) Appendix L—Guidance for Surveyors: Ambulatory Surgical Centers (ASCs), making conforming revisions to the regulatory tags and interpretive guidelines, as well as clarifications and technical corrections to other guidance areas including medical history…

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Editor's Note This study from the Cleveland Clinic finds that less than one-third of US hospitals were fully compliant in 2021 with the transparency in pricing for total joint arthroplasty (TJA) rule mandated by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). Of 400 hospitals analyzed between December 1 and…

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Editor's Note According to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Quality, Certification, and Oversight Reports (QCOR) page, which gives the public access to citation frequency reports, infection control was a top area of focus for CMS surveyors in 2021, the Ambulatory Surgery Center Association journal ASC Focus June…

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