Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare    COVID-19, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause severe disease resulting in preventable deaths, thousands to hundreds of thousands of hospitalizations, and millions of illnesses each year in the United States. This combined disease burden can impose a strain on healthcare systems during periods of…… Continue reading CDC Releases Two Respiratory Disease Dashboards

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare    CMS posted QSO-23-06-ALL on January 19, 2023. CMS performs over 100,000 compliance surveys of Medicare and Medicaid-certified providers and suppliers, each year. To increase compliance with CMS’ health and safety regulations, CMS has used the findings from those surveys to inform a series of short (10–15…… Continue reading Provider and Supplier Compliance Education Through Quality in Focus (QIF) Trainings

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDP Clinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare On December 20, 2022, OSHA issued this Enforcement Memo – same title as this Blog. Purpose.The penalty information included in this memorandum is intended to supplement the penalties and debt collection information found in Chapter 6 of the Field Operations Manual (FOM). Tables included in this…… Continue reading 2023 Annual Adjustments to OSHA Civil Penalties

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare CMS has posted updated iQIES materials: iQIES Reports User Manual … Version 2.1 … January 11, 2023 S&C Job Aid – Roles Matrix Job Aid … Version 3.1 … January 9, 2023 No word yet from CMS as to the implementation date for transition to iQIES…… Continue reading iQIES Materials Updated 

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Please join the Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, and her leadership team, who will highlight CMS’ key 2022 accomplishments and look ahead to how our 2023 priorities will advance the CMS Strategic Plan. CMS serves the public as a trusted partner and…… Continue reading Quarterly National Stakeholder Call with CMS Administrator – January 24, 2023 

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The purpose of the Third Edition Quality Reporting Program (QRP) COVID-19 Public Reporting (PR) Tip Sheets are to help providers understand CMS’ public reporting approach to the HH, IRF, LTCH, and SNF QRPs to account for CMS quality data submissions that were either optional or excepted…… Continue reading Third Edition QRP COVID-19 Public Reporting Tip Sheets   

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare The U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration is reminding employers that the agency is collecting calendar year 2022 Form 300A data. Employers must submit the form electronically by March 2, 2023. Establishments under Federal OSHA jurisdiction can use the ITA Coverage Application to determine if…… Continue reading OSHA 300A Reporting     

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare IHI’s Quality Improvement Essentials Toolkit includes the tools and templates you need to launch a successful quality improvement project and manage performance improvement. Each of the ten tools can be used with the Model for Improvement, Lean, or Six Sigma, and includes a short description, instructions,…… Continue reading Quality Improvement Essentials Toolkit  

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare April 1, 2023 Release of ICD-10-CM The FY2023 ICD-10-CM codes are to be used from April 1, 2023 through September 30, 2023.   Note: This replaces the FY 2023 – October 1, release. These files listed below represent the ICD-10-CM FY2023 April 1, 2023 release. The April…… Continue reading 2023 Release of ICD-10-CM Codes

Mary Madison, RN, RAC-CT, CDPClinical Consultant – Briggs Healthcare Late Friday, January 6, 2023, the FDA issued this news release: Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Leqembi (lecanemab-irmb) via the Accelerated Approval pathway for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Leqembi is the second of a new category of medications approved for Alzheimer’s disease that target the fundamental…… Continue reading FDA Grants Accelerated Approval for Alzheimer’s Disease Treatment