Here are seven recent news updates for ambulatory surgery center leaders to know for Feb. 26, 2015.
ASC conversion factor drops.
On Feb. 24, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published a notice of several corrections to its Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment Systems final rule. Due to the final corrected wage index budget neutrality adjustment, the ASC conversion factor will decrease from the originally announced $44.071 to $44.058.
CMS ASC Quality Reporting may get 2 new measures.
The group that guides the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on performance measures for the federal quality reporting program is recommending two new measures for the ASC Quality Reporting Program. The group — The Measures Applications Partnership — issued a draft recommendation supporting the two new measures: unplanned anterior vitrectomy and normothermia.
Healthcare spending grows 5%.
Healthcare spending through the third quarter of 2014 grew at an annual rate of 5 percent, up from the 3.6 percent growth rate in 2013, according to the Altarum Institute Center for Sustainable Health Spending's Health Sector Trend Report. Read the full report on Becker's ASC Review.
Foundation HealthCare's 4Q patient services revenue jumps 19 percent.
Foundation HealthCare reported $31.1 million in net revenues for the fourth quarter, up 20 percent from $26 million in the same period in 2013. In the fourth quarter, the company's patient services revenue increased 19 percent from $23.3 million to $27.8 million. The company's 2014 patient services revenue was $90.6 million, up 18 percent from $77 million in 2013.
Kentucky to overhaul CON program.
The Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services announced plans to overhaul the state's certificate of need process. Though the state's CON program has undergone a number of small changes in recent years, it has been more than a decade since a major overhaul. In the upcoming program revision Kentucky Cabinet for Health and Family Services plans to incentivize providers to develop a continuum of care, according to the Louisville Business First report. The program overhaul will also aim to improve patient access and quality of care.
Pennsylvania bill would limit retroactive denials.
Pennsylvania Senator David Argall introduced legislation to limit insurance companies' retroactive reimbursement denial and protect healthcare providers from those post-payment reviews. The bill specifies insurers are only able to retroactively deny reimbursement during a 12-month period following when the claim was paid. Read the full report on Becker's ASC Review.
Tenet Healthcare shares rise 1.24%.
Tenet Healthcare shares rose by 1.24 percent in the past week and 2.21 percent for the last four weeks. The 52-week low of the share price is $37.95 and the 52-week high is $63.61. Daily volume has averaged 1.7 million shares in the past 20 sessions.