Diagnotes, Inc. announced today that the Diagnotes® HIPAA-compliant mobile communication system now offers tracking and reporting for reimbursement from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) for the time clinicians spend managing their patients’ chronic care.
“Right now, providers are experimenting with manual data capture or, in many cases, just deciding it’s too complicated and not worth the effort to track the information required for reimbursement,” said Diagnotes Chairman and CEO Dave Wortman. “In effect, they’re leaving money on the table. The average additional revenue that could be realized per physician can be well over $200,000 annually.”
CMS established the rule reimbursing chronic care management activities effective January 1, 2015.
The rule recognizes that patients with chronic conditions often were managing their own care between physician visits because providers were not reimbursed for care that is not face-to-face.
Under the new rule, CMS reimburses for at least 20 minutes of clinical staff time in a month for each enrolled patient, with specific guidelines for what patients are eligible and what services are covered. The reimbursement rate averages over $40 per patient per calendar month, or almost $500 per patient annually.
“Our system already offered most of the functions required to support reimbursement under the new rule,” said Wortman. “The added tracking and reporting functionality is integrated with the other components of Diagnotes. And because Diagnotes can be used on the communication device of the provider’s choice – smartphone, tablet or laptop – it offers a very short learning curve for first-time as well as experienced users.”
As an added benefit, the Diagnotes system includes a host of automated alerting tools that ensure providers are delivering the recommended level of service and maximizing their reimbursement opportunity. And all CCM activity is discoverable and auditable should the need arise.
The new CCM capabilities seamlessly integrate with other Diagnotes components, such as HIPAA-compliant text and voice messaging with other care team members, patients and caregivers. Document sharing and 24/7 clinical data access also are vital components already available.
Diagnotes can be integrated with any Electronic Health Record (EHR) system. “Together Diagnotes and a certified EHR system provide a comprehensive chronic care management solution
