Grassi & Co. Accountants & Success Consultants

Announcement from Anne M. Dunne, RN-BC, MBA, MSCN, Director of Healthcare Consulting As part of President Obama’s commitment to reducing regulatory burden, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen G. Sebelius today announced that HHS will initiate a process to postpone the date by which cert...

There are thirty four preventive services, broken down by age group and gender, that insurers pay physicians to perform but for which the cost is not passed on to patients. These services include vaccines; diet, tobacco and alcohol counseling; mammography; diabetes screening; colonoscopies; Pap smea...

By: Anne M. Dunne, RN-BC, MBA, MSCN, Director Of Healthcare Consulting and  John V. Pellitteri, CPA, Partner-in-Charge Healthcare Services On December 10, 2010, Governor Patterson signed the Wage Theft Prevention Act (“WTPA”) which took effect on April 9, 2011. The WTPA amends the New York Lab...

Announcement from Anne M. Dunne, RN-BC, MBA, MSCN, Director of Healthcare Consulting The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced in an article titled “Medicare Fee-for-Service Policy Regarding 90-Day Discretionary Enforcement Period for Noncompliant HIPAA-Covered Ent...

From the MGMA Washington Connexion on January 4, 2012 The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule contains a provision applying a multiple procedure payment reduction (MPPR) to the professional component (PC) of diagnostic imaging codes that are currently subject to the MPPR for the technical component. CMS...

 Grassi & Co.’s First Annual Healthcare Roundtable Topic: Mergers and Acquisitions Presented by: John V. Pellitteri, CPA, Partner-in-Charge Healthcare Services and Anne M. Dunne, RN-BC, MBA, MSCN, Director of Healthcare Consulting  Please join us for breakfast followed by an informative semi...

Description of Problem The interactive voice response (IVR) system is providing incorrect 2012 deductible information. What This Means to You IVR users are receiving incorrect information that 2012 deductibles have been met. Until this issue is resolved, providers may use NGSConnex to obtain correct...

In a recent Office of the Inspector General ( OIG) Report,  improper billing practices by portable X-ray providers/vendors was discussed.  If you employ physician assistants or nurse practitioners who order portable x-ray studies, please review the OIG release which can be found at:  http://oig.h...

Effective January 1, 2012, physicians must use new Advanced Beneficiary Notices. The revised Advanced Beneficiary Notice of Noncoverage (ABN), Form CMS-R-131, is issued by providers (including independent laboratories), physicians, practitioners, and suppliers in situations where Medicare payment is...

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of E-Health Standards and Services (OESS) announced today that it will be extending it’s 5010 Compliance deadline to March 31, 2012, with respect to any HIPAA covered entity that is not in compliance with the ASC X12 Version 5010 (Vers...

The issue of ICD-10 conversion is extremely important and will affect all providers of healthcare services.  Make sure you read this important article on the October 2013 deadline for ICD-10 conversion.  This reports suggests that less than 10% of providers have reached the “readiness mark”  ...

This issue is extremely important and affects radiologists and imaging facilities who are performing Ultrasound, CT and MRI services in the same session. Make sure you read this important article on how 2012 CMS reimbursement will affect your practice. The final CMS rule, published several days ago,...

From National Government Services, Inc., Corporate Communications: A change has been made to the Billing Provider Address for 5010. The Billing Provider Address (2010AA loop) will require a physical location address to be reported. P.O. Box and lockbox addresses cannot be reported as a Billing Pro...

On the need to fix the Sustainable Growth Rate issue upon release of the final Medicare physician fee schedule rule America’s physicians are the backbone of our health care system.  Physicians are there for us throughout our lives, helping us improve our health and fight off disease.  Unfortunat...

As a reminder, beginning Sunday, January 1, 2012, suppliers who furnish the technical component of advanced diagnostic imaging (ADI) must be accredited in order to bill Medicare for these services. ADI procedures include MRI, CT, nuclear medicine imaging, and positron emission tomography. X-ray, ul...

This is an updated version of the Electronic Health Record (EHR) registration-related Listserv message sent by Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Thursday, October 13, 2011. This version of the message provides updated language to help providers understand the difference in regist...

By Anne M. Dunne, RN-BC, MBA, MSCN, Director of Healthcare Consulting and John V. Pellitteri, CPA, Partner, Healthcare Practice Leader Section 179 of the IRS tax code allows businesses to deduct the full purchase price of qualifying equipment purchased, financed, or leased during the tax year.  T...

Grassi & Co. Director of Healthcare Consulting Anne M. Dunne, RN-BC, MBA, MSCN, was recently published in Physician Money Digest for her article entitled “Medical Office Efficiencies”. Check out the article here: http://physiciansmoneydigest.com/your-money/Medical-Office-Efficiencie...