The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the 2019 MIPS quality measures available to report by physical therapists (PT’s), occupational therapists (OT’s) and speech-language pathologists (SLP’s) that practice in the private practice setting. In this article, I will provide the measures available to PT’s, OT’s and SLP’s reporting via claims and registry. Quality Measures That Can Be Reported via Claims by Physical Therapists Quality Measures That Can Be Reported via Registry by Physical Therapists Quality Measures That Can Be Reported via Claims by Occupational Therapists Quality Measures That Can Be Reported via Registry by Occupational Therapists Quality

Effective January 1, 2019, physical therapists, occupational therapists and speech-language pathologists in private practice (submit claims on a 1500 claim form) are able to participate in the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) for Performance Year 2019. If an individual therapist exceeds all 3 of the low-volume thresholds during both determination periods, they will be required to participate in MIPS in 2019. But what if as an individual, not one therapist in a practice exceeds all 3 of the low-volume thresholds during both determination periods, but the group does. Must the group then participate in MIPS in 2019? The answer is

Anthem Blue Cross-Blue Shield has announced they are initiating a new utilization management (UM) program with AIM Specialty Health, a subsidiary of Anthem beginning in 5 states. This program will begin on March 1, 2019 in the states of Indiana, Louisiana, New York and Wisconsin and March 25, 2019 in California. This new UM program will impact all commercial enrollees receiving outpatient physical, occupational and speech therapy services. AIM has already completed 3 webinars and has 2 more 10-hour webinars planned. The next webinar is February 26, 2019 at 3:00pm ET and the last webinar is on March 20, 2019

With the start of each new year, the question of can I collect the deductible and/or coinsurance from a Medicare beneficiary at the time of service or must I submit the claim to my Medicare Administrative Contractor first and wait for the explanation of benefits (EOB) to see what the financial responsibility is to the Medicare beneficiary? Well, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) does answer this question. In CMS Publication

You can now check the Quality Payment Program (QPP) Participation Status Tool to view your eligibility status for the 2019 performance period under the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS). Enter your National Provider Identifier (NPI), to find out if you need to participate in MIPS during the 2019 performance year. To check to see if you need to participate in MIPS for the 2019 Performance Year, click HERE.

Wisconsin Physician Services will be providing 8 webinars focused on the Skilled Nursing Facility setting. The webinar series begins on April 11, 2019 and concludes on November 14, 2019. To view each webinar topic, description, objectives and to register, click HERE.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has finished the mailing of new Medicare cards to 61 million people with Medicare prior to the original deadline of April 2019. But what are these new Medicare cards and how do they impact providers of therapy services? The Medicare Access and Chip Reauthorization Act (MACRA) of 2015 required CMS to remove social security numbers from all Medicare cards and replace them with a Medicare Beneficiary Identifier (MBI). The MBI is 11 characters in length and are made up of only numbers and upper case letters. The MBI doesn’t use any special characters (e.g.

On January 28, 2019, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) launched a new app that gives consumers a modernized Medicare experience with direct access on a mobile device to some of the most-used content on Medicare.gov. The What’s Covered app is available for free in both Google Play and the Apple App Store. The app is available in Google Play at:  https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gov.medicare.coverage, and is available in the Apple App Store at: https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/whats-covered/id1444143600?mt=8. Click HERE to read the Press Release from CMS and what information is available on the app.