Practice Management News 

AASM requesting members complete private payer preauthorization survey Recently private payers have changed coverage policies for sleep services to include stipulations for utilization management review and preauthorization. These changing requirements have created concern among sleep medicine physicians as these implemented preauthorization policies result in increased administrative work associated with ordering sleep studies.

HHS publicizes data on hospital charges On May 8, the department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced an unprecedented initiative to provide consumers with nationwide data on what hospitals charge. HHS explained that by providing this data it hopes that “business and consumers alike can use these data to drive decision-making and reward cost-effective provision of care. In addition to making the data available, HHS is also planning to fund data centers to review and publicize reimbursement data in the future.

CMS announces round 2 and National Mail Order competitive bid contracts On April 9 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced contract suppliers for the Round 2 and National Mail Order programs of the Medicare Durable Medical Equipment, Prosthetics, Orthotics and Supplies (DMEPOS) Competitive Bidding Program.

Hypopnea scoring: Meeting requirements of payers and the AASM Scoring Manual In October 2012 the AASM published the AASM Manual for the Scoring of Sleep and Associated Events: Rules, Terminology and Technical Specifications Version 2.0. All AASM accredited sleep centers will be required to follow the new manual by October 1, 2013.

Visit the recently updated AASM Practice Management page This week, the practice management section of the AASM website was expanded to include new frequently asked questions (FAQs) about coding and billing. New FAQ categories include out of center sleep testing and actigraphy. For updated content, please visit the AASM Practice Management website.