ARRA Implications On Healthcare

The past 18 months has brought swirling winds of change by new rules and regulations flowing from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (HITECH). These rules and regulations have implications on Healthcare and medical billing services.


Photo: borman818

Never before has there such a need for change facilitation as there is presently in healthcare. Healthcare leaders and medical billing services that have learned techniques to master change in the most effective manner can pull on these resources during implementation of processes to meet the final regulations of ARRA and HITECH.


Some of the characteristics for effective guidance of change include expertise, credibility, leadership, power and influence. Physician practices and their medical billing services company can work together for change facilitation and implementation of policies and procedure for compliance with new regulations.

A variety of meaningful use and privacy regulations have been making their way slowly throughout the year from the Department of Health and Human Services. Frequently the steps within the process including the following:

• Proposed rules
• Interim rules
• Public comments
• Committee recommendations
• Final rule

The order of the above steps was often difficult to maintain. Some effective dates were established prior to the closing dates for public comments.

Medical offices and medical billing services companies need to step back and take an organized approach to meeting the requirements of the regulations.

Specifically breach notification regulations are in effect and if staff education and procedures have not been completed this should be given top priority by medical offices and medical billing services.

----------

About the Author:

PGM Medical Billing Services

At PGM, we believe physicians should focus on practicing medicine, not submitting claims and collecting payments. As insurance carriers and HIPAA requirements change, physicians are dedicating more and more of their time and resources to administrative tasks and red tape. By effectively managing this time-consuming work, PGM gives time back to physicians allowing them to do what they do best.

Our specialized medical billing service is focused on maximizing medical provider reimbursement. For the past 30 years, PGM’s medical billing service has been helping physicians not only get paid more, but get paid faster. Our complete practice management solution includes claim submission and follow-up, payment posting, advanced claim scrubbing to minimize denials, and much more.

PGM medical billing services will maximize your collections, reduce your time to payment and help you lower and better manage your expenses, all dramatically improving your bottom line.

Source: Free Articles Directory Submission

About the Author
The past 18 months has brought swirling winds of change by new rules and regulations flowing from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) and Health Information Technology.

The Irony that is Healthcare

It’s no secret that a majority of Americans are disillusioned with the healthcare system in our country – they think they are covered only to find out to their shock that they’re rejected by their insurance company because they’re not able to pay their exorbitantly and atrociously hiked premiums. There is no reason provided for the hike, and very often, the supposedly new and improved policy is no better than the one they signed up for and thought they could afford. When you’re dropped because you cannot afford to meet the new premium price, what happens to all the money you have paid your insurance company so far, especially if you haven’t claimed any of it as medical expenses? They don’t return it to you, they don’t offer you a concession based on the fact that you haven’t undergone any form of medical treatment, and they don’t care that you are now left without cover. How fair is this when it’s your money that fills their coffers in the first place?
And even if you could afford to pay the higher premiums, there’s no guarantee that you would be able to afford the kind of healthcare you deserve if and when you fall sick. Many people find that they cannot afford the cost of prescription drugs even though they’re covered by insurance. They’re unable to find generic equivalents and because they don’t qualify for free aid programs like PAP (patient assistance program), they’re left at a loose end. They may resort to buying drugs off the Internet because it’s cheaper even though they cannot verify their authenticity; they may buy fewer pills than required because that’s all they can afford, a move that totally negates the efficacy of the drug, or they may share a prescription with someone else who is sailing in the same boat, again, not the wisest of things to do.
The saddest part of all this is that if you take the effort to stay healthy by doing all the right things like eating healthy food, working out regularly and keeping your weight down, you save yourself from disease and ill-health. But on the downside, you still have to pay your insurance company every month or every year, and that’s literally money down the drain. Isn’t it ironic when you consider the fact that you would prefer to fall sick, just so you could utilize the premiums you’ve paid to your insurance company?
The problem with this country’s healthcare system is that those who can afford healthcare even without insurance are pushing up the cost for ordinary folks who can barely make ends meet. The demand for newer and more innovative medical techniques and drugs sends the cost of healthcare soaring, and with the insurance companies keen to cash in on this, it’s the average Joe who ends up having to choose between eating and a roof over his head and getting quality medical care – isn’t that a delicious irony too?

By-line:
This guest post is contributed by Shannon Wills, she writes on the topic of physical therapy assistant schools . She welcomes your comments at her email id: shannonwills23@gmail.com.