…may not follow Medicare guidelines for hospital admissions, diagnostic testing, medication, and procedures, putting many—especially those with “long COVID”—at risk for being denied treatment. To ensure that patients covered…

Domagoj Coric, MD, USA Dr. Dom Coric spent 25 years as a neurosurgical spine surgeon at Carolina Neurosurgery and Spine Associates (CNSA) in Charlotte, North Carolina. He served 13…

COVID-19 Vaccine Resources Released CMS and the American Medical Association (AMA) have both developed resources to support efforts to communicate about the COVID-19 vaccine. Please see links and information…

…E/M visit codes for CY 2021 and the new add-on CPT code for prolonged service time. The AMA RUC-recommended values will increase payment for office/outpatient E/M visits. The RUC…

Multi-specialty Relative Value Scale Update Committee Reimbursement Surveys for Spine Surgical Procedures The Relative Value Scale Update Committee (RUC) acts as advisory body to CMS in setting Relative Value…

…codes will undergo extensive revision for implementation in 2021. Code level selection will now either be based solely on medical decision-making or total time on the date of the…

…on the use of new Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes to capture non–face-to-face work performed by surgeons, including spine surgeons. In the May 2021 issue of AAOS Now, the…

Survey of Health Care Providers on Accuracy of Medicare Payments The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) conducts numerous surveys of hospitals and health care providers that are used…

2023 Inpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule Released On April 18, 2022, CMS released a proposed rule for the Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS). In addition to annual policies…

…C1 to thoracic spine, complex cervical spine deformities, cervical TDR, various MIS surgeries, and endoscopic spine surgery. In 2021, he was selected as the best doctor in the country…

…add-on code would have redistributive impacts for all other CY 2024 payments. While those effects are less than estimated for this policy when first proposed for 2021, it still…

…of Other E/M prolonged services, similar to what CMS adopted in CY 2021 for payment of Office/Outpatient prolonged services. These services will be reported with three separate Medicare-specific G…