Becker's Hospital Review

21 CFO / FINANCE Florida hospital wants to reopen after ties cut with CHS By Ayla Ellison S hands Lake Shore Regional Medical Center in Lake City, Fla., closed Aug. 31, but the local hospital dis- trict is exploring options to reopen some medical ser- vices at the facility, according to TV station WCJB. The hospital, owned by the Lake Shore Hospital Authori- ty, closed less than two months after announcing plans to shut down. The hospital had to borrow money to maintain operations, and declining patient volume and financial challenges resulted in losses that were unsustainable, the hospital said. The hospital announced plans to close after Franklin, Tenn.-based Community Health Systems, which oper- ates the hospital, entered into a settlement and termi- nation agreement with the Lake Shore Hospital Author- ity for the planned closure of Shands Lake Shore on June 30, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. CHS has stopped providing services at the hospital, and the hospital authority regained control of the proper- ty Oct. 1. Dale Williams, executive director of the Lake Shore Hospital Authority, told WCJB that several parties are interested in leasing the hospital, and the district is reviewing proposals. "There's plenty of interest in the building, so we're not re- ally worried about leasing the building and having a con- tinuation there. The goal, though, is of course to try and maintain some hospital services," he said. n CMS finalizes dialysis, cancer payment models: 5 things to know By Morgan Haefner C MS finalized its payment models for end-stage re- nal disease treatment choices and radiation oncol- ogy Sept. 18. Five things to know: 1. The end-stage renal disease treatment choices model is in response to an executive order signed by President Donald Trump that calls for increased use of home dialysis and kidney transplants for Medicare patients with chronic kidney disease. It aims to improve care quality and lower Medicare costs for members who need dialysis and kid- ney transplants. 2. CMS projects the model will affect about 30 percent of kidney care providers. 3. The model begins Jan. 1, 2021, and is projected to save Medicare $23 million over five and a half years, according to CMS. 4. CMS also finalized its radiation oncology model, which aims to improve care outcomes for cancer patients who receive radiotherapy while lowering Medicare costs. 5. The radiation oncology model features bundled pay- ments that CMS said will incentivize the use of more clini- cally and cost-effective treatments. It begins Jan. 1, and is projected to save Medicare $230 million over five years. n AMA releases 329 CPT code changes for 2021: 6 things to know By Alia Paavola T he American Medical Association re- leased updates Sept. 1 to its Current Procedural Terminology code set for 2021. Six things to know about the changes: 1. e AMA made 329 changes to the 2021 CPT code set, including 206 new codes, 54 deletions and 69 revisions. e changes will take effect Jan. 1, 2021. 2. Among the changes in 2021 are CPT codes and guidelines for office and other outpa- tient evaluation and management services. e AMA said it is the first major overhaul in more than 25 years to the E/M office visit coding and documentation. e AMA said the changes aim to make coding and docu- mentation for the visits simpler. 3. Some of the E/M office visit code chang- es include eliminating history and physician exam as elements for code selection, permit- ting code level selection based on medical decision-making and adding more detail to the CPT code descriptors to promote payer consistency. 4. e AMA also added CPT codes that are related to the COVID-19 pandemic. e code set was modified with several code additions and revisions that were approved for imme- diate use and published in the 2021 code set. 5. e AMA added eight codes to improve documentation for continuous cardiac mon- itoring and detection, which will replace four codes that have been deleted. 6. In addition, there are new and revised CPT codes to enhance screening and care of pa- tients with diabetes. n

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