Author: dianawinder

New Guidance for Hospital Price Transparency

May 29, 2025

New Guidance for Hospital Price Transparency

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released new guidance on how hospitals should calculate the estimated allowed amount values for their online machine-readable files as part of the Hospital Price Transparency requirements.

Whenever possible, hospitals should:

  • Use electronic remittance data to determine the average dollar amount received over the last 12-month period.
    • If there is no historic data, hospitals should use the expected payment amount, encoded as a dollar figure.
  • Hospitals will no longer be able to use a code of nine number nines to signify that there was not sufficient historic data for that item or service over the last year.

Click Here to View Entire Guidance Document

Webinar: Medicare Care Management Billing Strategies, May 30

May 29, 2025

Webinar: Medicare Care Management Billing Strategies, May 30

This webinar will discuss new Medicare care management billing codes that can support care coordination and help your organization improve quality of care for Medicare beneficiaries. The presenters will discuss actionable steps to help your organization plan for and implement these billing codes.

Cost: Free

When: Friday, May 30, 11:00 a.m. (approximately 75 minutes)

Click Here to Register

ERS Article: Rural Populations are Shifting Older

May 29, 2025

ERS Article: Rural Populations are Shifting Older

The Economic Research Service (ERS) at the U.S. Department of Agriculture reports on recent data showing that the number of rural people of working age (between 15 and 64 years old) has fallen in recent years, dropping to 28 million in 2023 from more than 30 million in 2010. At the same time, the number of rural residents aged 65 years and over grew from 7.4 million in 2010 to 9.7 million in 2023.

Click Here to Read Article

Webinar: Navigating Rising Costs & Budget Cuts: A Strategic Approach to Healthcare Facility Management, June 24

May 28, 2025

Webinar: Navigating Rising Costs & Budget Cuts: A Strategic Approach to Healthcare Facility Management, June 24

Budget reductions, cost escalation and uncertain capital markets are pressuring operational leaders to do more with less.

To move from reaction to strategic response, leading facility teams are reframing cost challenges into opportunities for strategic planning, resource optimization and capital preservation.

From data-driven planning to stakeholder alignment, join this session for clear, practical lessons – not vague cost-cutting tips.

What You’ll Learn

  • How to prepare your facility plan for the next round of budget reductions,
  • Tactics to safeguard essential infrastructure with limited funding, and
  • Strategies to position facilities as enterprise value drivers – not cost centers.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, June 24, 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Webinar: The Rural Health Center Landscape: Data, Challenges and Insights, June 10

May 28, 2025

Webinar: The Rural Health Center Landscape: Data, Challenges and Insights, June 10

Across America, rural health centers work tirelessly to combat persistent barriers to care, such as lack of transportation, geographic isolation, and shortage of healthcare professionals and facilities.

This webinar will review the current financial landscape of rural health centers and identify the most common obstacles to care for rural residents. Utilizing health center financial audit data and operational and utilization data reported by the Uniform Data System (UDS).

In addition, there will be a Q&A with special guest speaker William Edwards, CFO of G.A. Carmichael Family Health Center in Mississippi who will offer his own perspective on the current financial challenges and opportunities rural health centers face.

Cost: Free

When: Tuesday, June 10, 2:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

Aligning Z Codes Workflow with Closed-Loop Referral Processes – Two-part Virtual Series, Starts June 3

May 28, 2025

Aligning Z Codes Workflow with Closed-Loop Referral Processes – Two-part Virtual Series, Starts June 3

This two-part virtual series will highlight the practical use of social risk factors by care teams including community health workers, pharmacy technicians, payers and providers in different settings of care including health centers, rural pharmacies, and hospitals health systems. The series wil demonstrate how these align with the crucial role of payers and providers and a focus on the impact o policies and programming.

The audience will learn best practice strategies that have been deployed in Missouri and how the closed-loop referral platforms for social risk factors can be leveraged to create a seamless and well-coordinated approach in improving health outcomes and reducing costs.

Intended Audience:

  • Community health workers working in outpatient primary care,
  • Pharmacy technicians,
  • Hospital inpatient/ED,
  • Community-based organizations,
  • Care coordinators,
  • Nurse care managers,
  • Discharge planners,
  • Hospital social workers,
  • Quality improvement staff,
  • Clinic managers,
  • Operations staff,
  • Providers,
  • Case management staff, and
  • Local public health agencies

Cost: Complimentary to all Attendees

When: June 3 and 26, 10:00 – 11:30

Click Here to Register

Webinar: AI: Why it might be the ix for broken patient communication practices, June 16

May 28, 2025

Webinar: AI: Why it might be the ix for broken patient communication practices, June 16

Missed calls. Long wait times. Overburdened staff. For many health systems, communication remains a barrier – not a bridge – to better care.

Join a patient communication expert to explore how AI-powered solutions are improving access, satisfaction and operational efficiency by automating call handling, routing inquiries and answering common patient questions 24/7.

Learning points include:

  • How AI automates and personalizes patient communications without added staff workload,
  • Examples of how health systems are using AI to streamline routing and improve engagement, and
  • Why always-on communication is the new standard – and how AI makes it possible.

Cost: Free

When: Monday, June 16, 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m.

Click Here to Register

On-Demand Webinar: Interoperability is getting harder: A new update helps you stay ahead

May 28, 2025

On-Demand Webinar: Interoperability is getting harder: A new update helps you stay ahead

Fragmented systems, shifting regulations and rising cyber threats are stretching interoperability teams thin.

Open-source tools help, but without centralized support, many teams are flying blind – introducing unnecessary risk.

NextGen Healthcare’s Mirth Connect 4.6 introduces a new support mode, key security updates and expanded analytics – giving organizations the visibility and reliability they need. Join this webinar to hear directly from NextGen leaders on how these changes affect current users and what steps you should take next.

Key Takeaways:

  • What’s new in Mirth Connect 4.6 – and why it matters now,
  • How cloud-based monitoring tools improve oversight, and
  • The role of the new enterprise license in supporting long-term success

Click Here to Access Webinar

On-Demand Webinar: FY2026 IPPS/LTCH Proposed Rule Overview for Hospitals

May 28, 2025

On-Demand Webinar: FY2026 IPPS/LTCH Proposed Rule Overview for Hospitals

This webinar will provide an overview of the fiscal year (FY) 202 Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS)/Long-Term Care Hospital Prospective Payment System (LTCH PPS) proposed rule as it relates to the Hospital Inpatient Quality Reporting Program, Hospital Value-Based Purchasing Program, Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program, and Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program.

This educational On-Demand event now appears on www.QualityReportingCenter.com in the Events on Demand tab.

Click Here to Access this On-Demand Webinar

Missouri DHSS Issues Emergency Waiver to Assist Missourians Impacted by Severe Weather

May 22, 2025

Missouri DHSS Issues Emergency Waiver to Assist Missourians Impacted by Severe Weather

The Missouri Department of Health and Senior Services (DHSS) has issued an emergency waiver to assist Missourians in need of critical prescription medications following the devastating tornadoes and sever weather that struck Missouri on May 16.

The action comes after Governor Mike Kehoe issued Executive Order 25-24 authorizing DHSS to temporarily waive or suspend any statutory or administrative rule under its purview to allow medical professionals to better assist those affected by storms.

The provisions of §195.010-195.100 and their attendant regulations and 195.060, RSMo, are partially waived to allow pharmacists to fill controlled substance prescriptions for patients in disaster-impacted areas without the presentation of a written prescription and if the pharmacist determines within his or her professional judgment that an extended supply is needed to avoid interruptions to patient care.

This will ensure that individuals whose prescriptions or prescription records were lost or destroyed, or whose original prescribing physician is unavailable, can continue to receive needed medications even if the pharmacy has not previously dispensed or refilled the prescription.

Click Here to View the Waiver