Friday, August 25, 2000

Most Outpatient PPS Glitches to Be Resolved by Oct. 1 Most claims submitted under Medicare's outpatient prospective payment system are being processed correctly, but some coding problems remain and may not be fixed until Oct. 1 or later, according to the Health Care Financing Administration. In a notice posted Aug. 24 on its World Wide Web site, HCFA said it has informed its fiscal intermediaries that a contingency plan to pay providers in the event the system did not function properly would not be needed.

Hospitals, meanwhile, are warning that implementation of the new PPS has not gone smoothly and facilities are likely to experience cash flow problems until it is fully functional.

In a memorandum sent to its members Aug. 23, the American Hospital Association said the outpatient PPS software has errors, "so despite your staff's best efforts, some outpatient claims will be paid inaccurately or returned for `correction,' without payment," the memo said. "This will temporarily reduce your cash flow."

Excerpted from an article in The Bureau of National Affairs, Inc.'s Health Care Daily Report. This topic is also covered in Health Care Policy Report, Health Law Reporter, Health Plan & Provider Report, and Medicare Report.

http://www.bna.com/prodcatalog/hec/index.html

-- Doris (reaper1@mindspring.com), August 25, 2000