CLINICAL SUMMARY: A previously healthy six-year-old boy arrived in the emergency department with chest pains and a high heart rate of 240 bpm. Upon arrival, he was hemodynamically stable and had no mental status changes. The symptoms began during an evening soccer practice and continued once he was at home. His mother, who has a […]
Case Study: Pediatric Short Stay Denial Reversed Read More »
Physicians specialize in medicine for various reasons, though primarily to improve patient outcomes by providing more focused care and reducing medical errors. This also allows physicians to see more patients in a period, making them more efficient at delivering quality care. The concept of specialization in healthcare is not new, however it is not always
Physician Advisors: Specialists For Your Utilization Management Team Read More »
CLINICAL SUMMARY: A 75-year-old male arrived at the Emergency Department with fevers, body aches, shortness of breath and chills. The patient had a medical history of Type 2 diabetes, hypertension and chronic urinary retention for which he self-catheterized. Additionally, the patient had diabetic peripheral neuropathy being treated with gabapentin, and he presented with elevated creatinine,
CLINICAL SUMMARY: A 73-year-old patient’s primary care doctor sent her to the Emergency Department (ED) after multiple labs taken for continuing chest pains showed abnormal results. The patient, who had been suffering chest pain for more than a week and who was taking nitroglycerin, had a stent placed in April. The patient had an extensive
Case Study: Medical Necessity and Reasonable Expectations Read More »
CLINICAL SUMMARY: An 88-year-old patient with a complex cardiac history of chronic congestive heart failure and dilated cardiomyopathy arrived at the emergency department (ED) with worsening shortness of breath and intermittent dizziness. The patient’s medical history included COPD, dilated cardiomyopathy, ventricular tachycardia with implantable cardioverter-defibrillator (ICD) shocks, atrial fibrillation (for which the patient uses Eliquis®),
Case Study: Physician Advisor Secondary Review Insight on MA Case Read More »
An American College of Physician Advisors’ (ACPA) recent report concurs with earlier data from AppriseMD that many Medicare Advantage Organizations (MAOs) are not complying with the guidelines that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services established under rule 4201-F. In its News to Note from July 20241, the ACPA looked at whether all of the
Missing adequate weekend assessments exposes up to 29% of hospital days to potential payment issues. Physicians consider many factors during the complex clinical judgement used in determining a hospital admission. Many hospitals operate with reduced staffing on the weekends, and this can have a significant impact on reimbursement when factoring that weekends encompass approximately 105
The Financial Impact of Weekend Utilization Review Read More »
AppriseMD physician advisors overturned a denied inpatient stay for a myomectomy by discussing this procedure’s placement on the inpatient-only IPO list, which is for surgeries that are considered high risk. Even though the patient was discharged on the day of surgery, this reversal shows the importance of peer-to-peer discussions conducted by physician advisors with regulatory
Case Study: IPO List Proves Critical in Overturning Denied Inpatient Stay Read More »
As the use of artificial intelligence (AI) in healthcare claims management widens, the importance of careful oversight is needed. Any use of automation for claim denials should be scrutinized by providers to ensure the denial is appropriate. A recent Healthleaders report asked a key question all revenue cycle managers must consider: What is the balance
Payers, Artificial Intelligence and Revenue Cycle Read More »
CLINICAL SUMMARY: A 30-year-old patient arrived at the emergency room suffering from abdominal pain, nausea and vomiting. The patient’s symptoms had been occurring for the past six weeks and progressively worsened. The patient complained of pain in the upper abdomen that radiated to the back. The patient had a medical history of anxiety, asthma, depression,
Case Study: Denial Reversed in Short Stay Alcohol-Induced Pancreatitis Admission Read More »