Watch on Demand: CARES Act and CMS Update

As the COVID-19 Public Health Emergency continues through 2020, CMS has recently updated guidelines for post-payment reporting, E&M CPT coding, and Medicare Physician Fee Schedules.

CARES Act Provider Relief Funding – Post-Payment Reporting and Auditing Requirements

Since April 2020, the CARES Act Provider Relief Fund has provided distributions from the General and Targeted funds to healthcare entities. Within the Terms & Conditions, recipients receiving more than $10,000 have agreed to participate in post-payment reporting processes. The deadlines and reporting requirements have been in development throughout the distribution periods. The most recent guidance was published on September 19, 2020 and outlines the data elements that must be gathered and submitted. We will outline recent guidance on reporting coronavirus-related expenses, lost revenues, other financial assistance and non-financial data and deadlines for submission.

Proposed 2021 E&M Changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule

In August 2020, CMS released proposed 2021 changes to the Evaluation and Management (E&M) CPT codes on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The proposed changes include both a shift in wRVU values and a reduction in the conversion factor. If approved, these changes would go into effect on January 1, 2021. While they are not finalized, they are significant enough to warrant an evaluation of the potential impact on reported provider productivity and reimbursement. We will briefly review the main proposed 2021 Evaluation & Management changes and will also discuss potential impacts to practice reimbursement and physician compensation models.

Presenting Experts:

	Wesley Brown, CPA Moderator Wes provides accounting, tax, and advisory services for healthcare businesses with an emphasis on practice management, revenue cycle management and incentive compensation model. His areas of specialty include business operations, emerging businesses, accounts receivable, mergers, acquisitions and divestitures.
	James Dicks, CPA, CVA James is a Manager in the Healthcare Services Group. He specializes in providing accounting, tax compliance, advisory, and practice management services to clients in the healthcare industry. James earned a Bachelor of Science degree and a Master of Business Administration degree from Troy University. He is a Certified Public Accountant (CPA) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA).
	Margaret Cook, MBA, CMPE Margaret has over 30 years of experience in business and healthcare. She provides specialized consulting services for healthcare providers with an emphasis on physician practice management. Her areas of expertise include practice startup, recruiting and credentialing new providers, evaluation of innovative business opportunities and ancillary services, assessing existing practices for operational improvements and workflow efficiencies, assisting healthcare groups with governmental compliance and regulatory requirements.
	Joni Wyatt, MHA, MHIA, CPHIMS, FHIMSS Joni has over 20 years of experience specializing in physician practice management, practice startups, health information systems, compensation models, and healthcare compliance. She is a Senior Healthcare Advisor at Kassouf. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree from College and Charleston as well as a Master of Healthcare Administration degree and a Master of Health Information Administration degree from the University of South Carolina. She is a Certified Professional in Health Information Systems.

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