News


September 14, 2022

Bolstering your Prior Authorization Processes to Thrive

Prior authorization is here to stay. Insurance companies are increasing Prior Authorization (PA) requirements for medical services and prescription drugs. As a result, the PA administrative load is getting heavier for healthcare providers.
December 27, 2021

Early and Midtreatment Mortality in Palliative Radiotherapy: Emphasizing Patient Selection in High-Quality End-of-Life Care

As a clinician, I understand the importance of palliative care radiation therapy as it relates to pain alleviation and quality of life. The study indicated that as many as 1 in 5 patients who receive RT in their final 30 days of life spent greater than 10 of those receiving treatment.
December 27, 2021

So Many Changes: New Data, Strategy, and Technology Don’t Forget The Basics

The OIG’s audits are ramping back up based on their work plan. Obviously, they will be focused on telehealth and supervision, but don’t forget about the integrated basics. Hospitals, providers, and departments don’t have the budget is what I am currently hearing from so many managers, directors, and administrators.
December 27, 2021

Payer Mix

Payer mix is something that is always on the radar for administrators and those in healthcare finance. It refers to the percentage of hospital revenue coming from private insurance companies versus government insurance programs versus self-paying patients. The ideal scenario is more commercial and less uninsured (bad debt/write off). Generally, a commercial plan pays an average of 264% of the Medicare allowable for the same CPT® Read more
December 27, 2021

Solutions, Software, Barriers and Value

There is an enormous amount of money being pumped into “digital health” to solve problems in healthcare from RCM to RPM to Quality. We all know the statistics as to how many start-ups fail (90+%) or run out of runway. PE and VC has allowed more people than ever before to try.
December 27, 2021

Patient Advocate?

We continue to see the “screws tightening” in healthcare. COVID chaos, delayed screenings, value-based care, a more complex patient, financial difficulty, to alternative payment models, there is much change. Responding to this change must be swift and strategic---mostly different.
December 27, 2021

2021 E/M Changes Are Here…Time to Change

It is important to note that this did not sneak up on us or even change from the proposals.However, there will be many disappointed practices and providers who are not ready for the changes on January 1, 2021.
December 27, 2021

Deep Into Price Transparency

As covered before, the Price Transparency initiative by CMS is only the first step towards redefining healthcare and how all stakeholders engage including patients. Like the mask mandate in the initial stages of COVID, it only works if there is compliance. Also, remember this is a progressive multi year model to include all service by 2024*.
December 15, 2021

Welcome New Director of Education

Jennifer McNamara joins the OncoSpark team as the Director of Education. She brings impact and results with her with 20+ years of proven healthcare revenue cycle experience and effective instruction through Ozark Coding Alliance for 1000+ students. Jennifer has embraced the changes in the billing and coding space by embracing the movement to value based care and software deployment across specialties.