Becker's ASC Review

48 Key Specialties Life-Saving Equipment, Medications & Training Since 1970 888-STAT KIT StatKit.com/StatKit750 or contact your dealer • Complete set of medications • Designed to help meet accreditation standards • Always up to date* Banyan also sells INDIVIDUAL medications 9439 v.1 08/2015 STAT KIT ® 750 * Medications are tracked for expiration and automatically replaced to maximize shelf-life and ensure readiness. The only Emergency Medical Kit designed for Ambulatory Surgical Facilities 7 Ways 2016 CMS Payment Updates Affect Gastroenterology By Laura Dyrda T he American Gastroenterological Association, American College of Gastroenterology and American Society for Gastrointestinal En- doscopy developed a report on the key provisions from the CMS 2016 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System and Ambulatory Surgical Center Payment System updates. Here are seven key notes on how the updates could impact GI: 1. e reimbursement for GI/endoscopy services was lowered, some cuts exceeding 17 percent. ese cuts could affect access to care going forward. 2. ere will be a .77 percent reduction in the Physician Fee Schedule to all services because CMS failed to meet the 1 percent net reduction target for misvalued codes in 2016; only .23 percent of the target was achieved. 3. CMS finalized proposals for new values for incomplete colonoscopies, which will be paid at one-half the value of a completed procedure with the same code. 4. ere weren't any changes made in the Physician Quality Reporting and Value-based Payment Modifier. is year was the last year for PQRS as a standalone program. In 2019, there will be adjustments to payment for quality reporting and other factors under the Merit-Based Incentive Pay- ment System and Alternative Payment Models, required by the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act. 5. Hospital outpatient services conversion factor was lowered 0.3 percent; ASC payment was updated 0.3 percent using the consumer price index. CMS will restructure nine clinical families, including GI for the Ambula- tory Payment Classifications. 6. ASCs will see 2 percent lower Medicare reimbursement if they do not successfully participate in the ASCQ program. ere weren't any new measures for 2016. 7. CMS finalized a proposal to align colorectal cancer screening codes G0105 and G0121 payment, increasing payment for services to the same level as CPT code 45378. But, there will be a 3 percent decrease in facility payment and 2 percent decrease in ASC payment for colonoscopy codes under the restructuring. n Healthcare Sector to be Biggest Source of Jobs in Next Decade: 4 Statistics By Kelly Gooch H ealthcare occupations and industries are expected to have the fast- est employment growth and to add the most jobs between 2014 and 2024 than any other industry, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported. Here are four statistics from the BLS on projected employment growth. 1. Service-providing sectors are projected to capture 94.6 percent of all the jobs added between 2014 and 2024. Of these 9.3 million new service sector jobs, 3.8 million will be added to the healthcare and social assistance major sector. 2. e BLS estimates the healthcare and social assistance major sector will in- crease its employment share from 12 percent in 2014 to 13.6 percent in 2024. 3. Healthcare support occupations and healthcare practitioners and technical occupations are projected to be the two fastest growing occupational groups between 2014 and 2024. ese groups are projected to contribute the most new jobs, with a combined increase of 2.3 million in employment, represent- ing about one in four new jobs. 4. Personal care aide employment is expected to increase by roughly 458,000 jobs between 2014 and 2024, while registered nurse employment is expected to increase by roughly 439,000 jobs. n

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