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Medical coding has a great share in ensuring the quality of medical claims. The more accurately claims are compiled, the easier it is to timely send them to the payers and get reimbursements.

Medical billing services are one of those topics that can never be discussed enough if you are related to the healthcare industry. Hence, laying down opportunities for students to adapt and see themselves in the role of a medical biller and coder is a process we all should know.

Medical billing services are one of those topics that can never be discussed enough if you are related to the healthcare industry. Hence, laying down opportunities for students to adapt and see themselves in the role of a medical biller and coder is a process we all should know.

The best way to improve the collection rate is by outsourcing medical billing services. They have resources and infrastructure to keep an eye on every matter that ultimately enhances your billing performance.

Corona has overburdened the healthcare system, and CMS has announced some relaxations for eligible physicians to facilitate them. Read how CMS has eased the MIPS 2020 data submission process.

The reimbursement process of Durable Medical Equipment is complex, especially because they are part of the healthcare service but doesn't constitute the whole treatment episode.

The reimbursement process of Durable Medical Equipment is complex, especially because they are part of the healthcare service but doesn't constitute the whole treatment episode.

Outsourcing medical billing improves the net collection rate as it gives a push to reimbursements. It also speeds up the RCM process by not delaying the billing and coding of claims.

Pharmacists and pharmacy technicians are set to receive up to £15.9 million over the next four years which will help them thrive in multidisciplinary healthcare teams and enable expansion of frontline staff in primary and community care. The funding, which is part of the Pharmacy Integration Programme allocation, will improve registered pharmacy professionals' skills, through a range of training and development opportunities. The programme is a part of education reform for pharmacy professionals and will allow them to identify career pathways. Health Education England and NHS England will work in partnership to develop "a formal portfolio recognition process to identify the existing skills, training and experience gained by pharmacists working in primary care, allowing them to work more flexibly and better support GP services", HEE said in a statement today (November 8).

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) today issued a draft guidance recommending dapagliflozin, sold under the brand name Forxiga among others, as an option for treating certain adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD). Dapagliflozin belongs to a group of medicines called sodium glucose co-transporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors. It is the first SGLT2 inhibitor to be recommended through NICE's technology appraisal process for CKD. Adding dapagliflozin to current standard care has been shown to significantly reduce the risk of having declining kidney function, end-stage kidney disease, or dying from causes related to the kidneys or cardiovascular system. "Dapagliflozin is a promising treatment for certain people with chronic kidney disease and it has the potential to increase the length of time before the disease gets worse," Meindert Boysen, deputy chief executive and director of the NICE Centre for Health Technology Evaluation, said.

The full version of the Community Pharmacy Assurance Framework (CPAF) questionnaire is now available for selected pharmacies to complete. This follows a screening questionnaire in July, which all community pharmacies in England were asked to complete as part of the CPAF process. Pharmacies may be selected for the full, comprehensive CPAF questionnaire if, for example, they did not complete a screening questionnaire or if there are concerns about the pharmacy relating to patient safety. Some pharmacies may also be selected to validate their screening questionnaire answers. The NHS Business Services Authority (NHSBSA) said selected pharmacies have been contacted. It's mandatory to complete the survey which can be used as a training tool and for continuous monitoring of compliance against the community pharmacy contract.

The Pharmaceutical Services Negotiating Committee has announced that the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) has granted the following price concessions for November 2021. Contractors can find information on the price concessions and learn about the process involved on PSNC's website. A price concession only applies for the month in which it is granted. No additional prescription endorsement are required as the new price is automatically applied by the NHSBSA to all items submitted for payment in the same month for which a price concession is granted. PSNC is still working with the DHSC to agree further concessionary prices on other drugs reported to be unavailable at the stated November 2021 Drug Tariff price.

The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has advised healthcare professionals to stop supplying a specific batch of Paroxetine 40mg Film Coated Tablets immediately. Crescent Pharma Limited is recalling a specific batch of Paroxetine 40mg Film Coated Tablets as a precautionary measure due to out of specification results for dissolution during routine stability testing. "Quarantine all remaining stock of the said batch and return it to your supplier, using your supplier's approved process," said MHRA. The agency alerted the patients that this is a precautionary Pharmacy and Wholesaler level recall, therefore no further action is required by patients.

While thanking the provisionally registered pharmacists and their employers for supporting NHS services during the pandemic, the General Pharmaceutical Council (GPhC) has asked the 63 eligible candidates to join the main register by January 31 to continue practicing. A total number of 4,799 provisionally-registered pharmacists have been on the provisional register since it was introduced in July 2020 in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, which had affected the registration assessment schedule. As of Tuesday (January 18), 237 were still on the provisional register, of which 84 have begun the process to join the main register, 90 did not sat an assessment, while 63 eligible candidates are yet to start their application. The register enabled trainees who had completed their training to support NHS services and provide patient care effectively as provisionally-registered pharmacists, while they waited to sit the registration assessment. After providing three potential opportunities to trainees to sit the registration assessment - in March, July and November 2021, the provisional register will close on January 31, 2022.

Childbirth is an emotional, intimate moment for new parents. Unfortunately, there are plenty of cases where, during the birth process, the newborn may suffer a physical injury. Parents need to know their rights to check their child's medical records if they suspect that medical malpractice caused the damage. In our following guide, we're sharing some top facts on birth injuries and what one can do when facing this complex scenario. THE MAIN CAUSES BEHIND BIRTH INJURIES No parent walks into the hospital during childbirth expecting the worst-case scenario. However, one of the primary ways families can reduce the chances of dealing with this complex situation is to plan with their attending medic and check for any obstetrical risk factors before birth. A difficult birth can happen because the baby weighs over 8 pounds or 4 kilograms, or labor has started before 37 weeks. Other common factors detected during these cases occur when the mother's pelvis doesn't have the ideal conditions for natural childbirth, maternal obesity is present, or labor has extended for more than 12 hours. However, if medical professionals cannot deal with these factors and make mistakes during the procedure, the chances of suffering any birth injury increase significantly.

Britain's biotech firm Avacta Group on Monday (January 10) announced halting sales of its Covid-19 rapid antigen lateral flow test AffiDX to replace antibodies in the device and increase its ability to diagnose the Omicron variant. The company stated that AffiDX is capable of detecting Omicron when the virus is present in high numbers in samples, but the sensitivity of the test reduces at lower viral loads. The performance of all rapid antigen tests came under scanner in wake of a large number of mutations in the Omicron variant. AffiDX contains both a proprietary Affimer reagent and a commercially available antibody. The Affimer reagent detects the Omicron variant with the same sensitivity as the Delta variant, and performance of the antibody is paired with the Affimer reagent in the test. This has been affected by the additional Omicron mutations, the firm said. Alastair Smith, chief executive of Avacta Group, said: "Our determination to only provide high quality, high performance diagnostic tests has led us to the correct decision to pause all marketing of the AffiDX® lateral flow antigen test. We have, of course, been unable to market the product in the UK since October 2021, as the product continues to await approval under the new CTDA regulatory process.

Walgreens Boots Alliance, the parent company of Boots UK, has begun a strategic review of its business in the United Kingdom, chief executive officer Rosalind Brewer said on Tuesday (January 11) - as the pharmacy chain tries to renew its focus on US healthcare. Boots has over 2,200 stores across the UK, which include pharmacies, health and beauty stores, among others, according to the chain's website. "This review is very much in line with our renewed priorities and strategic direction. In particular, our increased focus on US healthcare. While the process is at an exploratory stage, we do expect to move quickly," Brewer said at the JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. The review comes at a time when the company, which was formed in 2014 after the acquisition of stake in Alliance Boots by Walgreens, moves beyond its drugstores with its investments in two smaller healthcare providers, CareCentrix and VillageMD.

After engaging with contractors and stakeholders of NHS Community Pharmacy, the pharmacy review steering group (RSG) is planning to put proposals to contractors' vote before Easter 2022. The group, made up of representatives from the Association of Independent Multiple Pharmacies, Company Chemists' Association and independent community pharmacy, was formed in late 2020 to explore the future of community pharmacy network support. After engagement with the sector, the RSG has defined the roles of the local and national representative bodies, considered the contractor decision-making process, and worked through analysis and suggestions on local representation. It is now focusing on national representation and support.

Global pharmaceutical and biotechnology company AstraZeneca has signed an agreement with Scorpion Therapeutics to discover, develop and commercialize precision medicines against cancer proteins. The collaboration, announced today (January 13), will focus on a class of proteins called transcription factors, which can regulate important cellular processes including cell growth and survival. Many transcription factors have been identified earlier, but were considered 'undruggable' using conventional drug discovery approaches, the company said in a statement. Susan Galbraith, executive vice president, Oncology R&D, AstraZeneca, said: "Unlocking potentially transformative biology is pivotal for delivering the next wave of cancer treatments. "Scorpion's innovative platform is a strong strategic fit as we explore a range of new modalities across our broad drug discovery toolbox with promise to disrupt the activity of these highly-validated cancer targets."

The Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) announced on Monday (November 22) that it would integrate NHS Digital, NHSX and Health Education England into NHS England and Improvement (NHSE&I) as part of major workforce planning and technology reforms. The merger is part of the government's long-term strategy for the recruitment, training and retention of healthcare staff coupled with a digital transformation of working practices. The overhaul is based on recommendations made by NHS Digital chair Laura Wade-Gery who led a government-commissioned review to improve patient care, centralise the NHS workforce and accelerate digital delivery. Commenting on her recommendations, Wade-Gery, said: "In the rest of our lives, digital has really changed how we live and we must now make this true in healthcare. The goal of my review is to equip the national centre with the right capability to support Integrated Care Systems to deliver better citizen health. We need to have the culture, operating model, skills, capabilities and processes to put data, digital and technology at the heart of how we transform health services."

An independent committee at the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has developed a menu of options to treat depression in adults. The first guideline to identify, treat and manage depression has been created after looking at the evidence of treatment on various aspects of depression. The guideline allows patients to select the best suited cure for them through a shared decision-making process between them and their healthcare practitioner. Patients with less severe depression can choose a first-line treatment option from the menu, such as cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), exercise, counselling or psychotherapy. Similarly, those with a severe depression can select from a range of psychological interventions and antidepressant medication. As per data released by the Office of National Statistics, around 17 per cent of people aged 16 years and over in Great Britain experienced some form of depression in summer 2021, higher than the previous year.

The British scientist who led the research underpinning AstraZeneca's coronavirus vaccine said at the weekend that a new jab could be developed against the emerging Omicron variant "very rapidly" if needed. Professor Andrew Pollard, director of the Oxford Vaccine Group, also said existing vaccines should work against the new strain, but that would only become apparent after more research in the coming weeks. "It's extremely unlikely that a reboot of a pandemic in a vaccinated population like we saw last year (with the Delta variant) is going to happen," he told BBC radio. But if required, "The processes of how one goes about developing a new vaccine are increasingly well-oiled, so if it's needed that is something that could be moved very rapidly." In a statement, AstraZeneca said it had "developed, in close collaboration with Oxford University, a vaccine platform that enables us to respond quickly to new variants that may emerge".