Blog
Congress Passes the Suspension of the Sequester Cut Through 2021
Per the APTA's News Release on April 14, 2021: Congress Passes the Suspension of the Sequester Cut Through 2021. The U.S. House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved the relief, which is expected to be signed into law by President Biden in the coming days. The...
The Administrative Burden and Mental Stress of Audits
The adage, “If momma ain’t happy, ain’t nobody happy,” is a very transferable truism and certainly can apply to working with health care auditors. Just imagine if your job were to review clinical and billing records all day long, five days a week. Can you envision the...
Are You Running Your Private Practice Naked?
Compliance for Outpatient Therapy Providers ... the requirement that private practitioners often put in the back of the closet. When regulators come to your door, do you want to be naked...i.e., without a Compliance Program in place, or do you want to be ‘dressed to...
Frequently Asked Questions re: The Supervision of Physical Therapists and Occupational Therapy Assistants
Question: Does the telecommunication waiver for off-site (virtual) supervision of assistants apply to physical and occupational therapy private practices? Answer: Yes, virtual supervision of PTAs and OTAs absolutely applies to both physical and occupational therapy...
Medicare Claims Filing with the 3% Reduction
We cannot be certain, nor have we been promised, that Medicare Administrative Contractors will have the COVID-19 Relief Package with the new Physician Fee Schedule changes for therapy providers (~9% reduced to 3.6%) loaded in their systems to properly adjudicate...
Compliance with SBA Loans and Federal Funding – Are you at Risk?
There were a number of declarations at the end of each of the SBA loan applications that deal with compliance with various federal law such as civil rights laws, OSHA, HIPAA, etc.. Are you at risk for an Audit because you received an SBA loan or Federal Funds? When...
A Reprieve from Damaging Medicare Cuts
The legislation prevents proposed steep cuts to Medicare in 2021 by providing a one-time exemption from budget neutrality rules. That's important, because CMS is citing those constraints as the reason it's planning on cutting payment for more than three dozen...
CMS Announces Resumption of Routine Inspections/Surveys
CMS announced that it resumed surveys and inspections of all providers and suppliers on August 17, 2020. CMS had previously suspended certain routine inspections as part of its response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic to prioritize infection...
CMS Announces New Value-Based Payment Model For Rural Healthcare Providers
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services today announced a new value-based payment model for rural healthcare providers. The Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (CHART) Model ties payment to value, increases choice and lowers costs for patients, CMS...
Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Proposed Rules – Federal Register
We have received a number of questions regarding which benefit categories HCPCS codes G2061 through G2063 fall under. In the March 31st COVID-19 IFC (85 FR 19244-19245) we established on an interim basis for the duration of the PHE for the COVID-19 pandemic that these...
HIPAA/HITECH Rules Still Apply for Physical Therapy Clinics
The Office of Civil Rights (OCR) recently handed out a $1.O4M penalty to Lifespan for a stolen laptop that was unencrypted. In this instance an employee had a work laptop stolen out of their car. Key violations that incurred the penalties included the following:...
Support for Private Physical Therapy Practices During COVID-19
During this uncertain time, Business & Clinical Management Services (BCMS) is here to support private physical therapy practices during COVID-19. The Department of Health and Human Services The Department of Health and Human Services has designated them members of...
HR Related Decisions for Physical Therapy Owners During COVID-19
We know it has been challenging to navigate all the staffing and HR related decisions for physical therapy owners during the COVID-19 pandemic. The information below is designed to explain options and enhance your decision-making process. The data is current as of...
2020 Physician Fee Schedule Proposed by CMS – Call To Action
As promised, we have reviewed the 2020 Physician Fee Schedule proposed by CMS. There are many complexities that we must study before we can give you all of the details. In the meantime, please consider reviewing the items (via links) listed below so you can have the...
Direct Access in Texas for Physical Therapy
The wait for Direct Access in Texas for physical therapy is nearly over (this means treatment with out referral)! The Texas Board of Physical Therapy Examiners has approved a draft of the proposed Rules that will govern the new provisions for Direct Access in the...
Physical Therapy HR – How to Properly Handle an Employee’s Sick Leave
Physical Therapy HR (Human Resources) is an important component of the operations of any physical therapy practice. Employees are the key to any business’s success, so when an employee comes to you and reveals that they are struggling with an illness and need sick...
Physical Thearpy OSHA Compliance
Physical therapy OSHA Compliance is of utmost importance when running a sound private practice. So many practice owners think it's 'overkill' or 'we aren't a hospital, so why do we have to do these things?'. OSHA addresses and provides regulation to ensure the...
Physical Therapy HIPAA Compliance: What A HIPAA Violations Mean for Your Practice
Physical Therapy HIPAA Compliance can be overwhelming if you don't know enough about protecting your patients health information. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) has been protecting the privacy and security of certain health information...
Compliance for Physical Therapy – What are the Rules and Requirements Anyway?
Compliance for Physical Therapy... the required evil that everyone with a physical therapy practice wants to avoid. What does this mean for your practice and why should you care? Why You Need Compliance for Physical Therapy Practices What does this mean for your...
Mandatory Claims Submissions… Is it really Mandatory? Here’s What You Should Know!
Physical therapists must submit claims to Medicare for covered services provided to Medicare patients. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it! Manditory Claims Sumbmissions? Is it Really Manditory? Here's What You Should Know! Last week I jointly presented a program...
HIPAA Compliance – What Physical Therapy Practice Owners Need to Know
It can be a daunting task for small business owners to navigate the complexities of physical therapy HIPAA compliance. Questions and Answers Regarding HIPAA that all Physical Therapy Practice Owners Should Know WHILE WE TYPICALLY FOCUS ON ISSUES RELATED to payment...
HIPAA Compliance Issues for Physical Therapists – Avoid Small Issues that Can Cost Big Money
In this post, BCMS will point out How can you avoid HIPAA Compliance issues for physical therapists. The Office of Civil Rights compiled a list of the top 10 HIPAA compliance issues for 2017. Their investigations and enforcement of HIPAA resulted in millions of...
Physical Therapy Private Practice Compliance – Where to Start
Many practice owners believe that physical therapy private practice compliance is a complex problem. It doesn't have to be. In this post, we will outline exactly where you should start. Physical Therapy Private Practice Compliance Points to Address First, identify...