Thought Leadership
When it comes to thought leadership and staying informed, we’ve got you covered. See below for recent articles, webinars, and downloadable resources available.
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May 10, 2021
On Tuesday May 4, 2021, President Biden announced three new COVID-19 initiatives impacting RHCs. Nearly $1 billion of funding is being made available as part of the American Rescue Plan (ARP) to support rural COVID-19 response efforts and increase COVID-19 vaccine availability in rural communities. The President’s announcement included the following initiatives: Shipping New Allocations […]
May 07, 2021
The American Rescue Plan Act, enacted March 11, 2021, aims to deliver economic relief to families and workers. On April 21, President Biden announced a provision of the American Rescue Plan Act that allows eligible employers to claim refundable tax credits for providing emergency paid sick leave to employees who take time off for reasons […]
May 05, 2021
There is a new audit trend coming down the pipeline that could impact your charity reimbursement for Medicare bad debt. In the past there was no enforcement of statements being sent to a charity patient before they were deemed indigent. Until a patient has been approved for charity, they are still deemed non-indigent. Auditors are […]
May 03, 2021
Anyone who works in the healthcare industry knows that their organization takes steps to protect patient health information under a series of guidelines known as HIPAA. There are several provisions to HIPAA that require organizations to use Federal guidelines to ensure digital health information is secure. Those provisions include: Privacy Rule Security Rule Enforcement Rule […]
April 28, 2021
On December 27, 2020 the Consolidated Appropriations Act of 2021 introduced changes to the existing Rural Health Clinic payment structure. Changes to the Rural Health Clinic Payment Structure This legislation introduced the following reforms: Phase-in steady increases in the RHC statutory cap over an eight year period Subjects all new RHCs to the new Medicare […]
April 26, 2021
Organizational budgeting is far from a simple process, and this is especially true for those in nonprofit leadership. There are often many complexities to consider when developing a financial plan capable of carrying the mission forward into the next fiscal year and, certainly, the added challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic have not made this task […]
April 22, 2021
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the proposed rule for fiscal year (FY) 2022 that would update Medicare’s prospective payment system (PPS) rates for skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). CMS estimated that the proposal would impact payment to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) Medicare Part A as an increase of around $444 million dollars […]
April 07, 2021
The world of pharmacy benefits continues to get more complicated, and that is unfortunately not an accident. Pharmacy benefit managers, also known as PBMs, such as Optum, CVS Health, and Express Scripts, cover more than 80% of the American public’s pharmacy needs. Due to their size and control over the pharmacy industry, they can negotiate […]
April 06, 2021
The world of pharmacy benefits is not transparent by design — pharmacy benefit managers do not want you to look into where your costs are truly going. Join Blue & Co., LLC on Tuesday, April 13 from noon to 1 p.m. for a webinar where our team of Pharmacy Consultants will explain how pharmacy benefit […]
April 06, 2021
Blue & Co. reviewed publicly available information on a 120 bed, non-profit, acute-care hospital. The data suggested there was revenue improvement opportunity in their outpatient physical and occupational therapy departments. The department had approximately 27,000 patient visits the previous year. During an assessment, we co-validated a significant set of revenue improvement opportunities: charge capture improvement, […]
April 05, 2021
Provider Relief Funds Update Last week HHS updated their FAQ’s for the first time in almost a month. We did learn that the period to incur COVID-19 expenses and lost revenues is still set to end on 6/30/21 and there was no mention of an extended time period. For now, HHS is moving ahead with […]
April 05, 2021
If your organization is exempt under section 170(b)(1)(A)(vi), section 170(b)(1)(A)(iv) or section 509(a)(2) of the IRS code, it must annually meet one of two public support calculation tests (shown on Form 990, Schedule A) to maintain its publicly supported status: The organization is over 33 1/3% publicly supported. This means that 33 1/3% or more […]
April 02, 2021
The concept of consumerism in healthcare delivery is rooted and shaped in the world of retail services. To keep it simple, patient experience competencies should drive your consumerism strategy. However, it is primarily driven by high deductible health plans, changing technology, shifting patient demographics and value-based care payer contracts, healthcare care consumerism and the experience […]
April 01, 2021
Beginning 2011, Medicare began covering the Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) as a yearly appointment with a primary care provider (PCP) to create or update a personalized prevention plan at no cost to the beneficiary. This plan may help prevent illness based on current health and risk factors. It is not a routine physical, and an […]
March 18, 2021
On March 17, the IRS ended weeks of speculation and issued an information release (IR-2021-59), which provides individual taxpayers an additional month to file their income tax returns. Individuals now have until May 17, 2021, to file their Form 1040, and no interest or penalty on taxes due will begin to accrue until that date. […]
Webinars
April 06, 2021
The world of pharmacy benefits is not transparent by design — pharmacy benefit managers do not want you to look into where your costs are truly going. Join Blue & Co., LLC on Tuesday, April 13 from noon to 1 p.m. for a webinar where our team of Pharmacy Consultants will explain how pharmacy benefit […]
February 24, 2021
You’re Invited! On Wednesday, March 3, 2021, Blue & Co. hosted a webinar entitled Understanding the Employee Retention Credit (ERC): What You Need To Know. In this session, you will learn more about the expansion of the Employee Retention Credit (ERC). The panelists discuss: Explanation of the credit and amounts Who is eligible to take […]
February 15, 2021
This session was hosted by Blue & Co. and Ashley|Rountree and Associates on Thursday, February 25 from 12:00 p.m. to 1:00 p.m. EST. This webinar is Maximizing and Accounting for Not-For-Profit Revenue Sources. This webinar is part of a two-part series discussing unique funding opportunities and issues related to revenue sources for not-for-profit organizations. The […]
February 02, 2021
Over the past year, there have been many changes within the 340B Program. Join Jason Prokopik from Blue & Co., LLC and Wes Butler from Barnett Benvenuti & Butler on Tuesday, February 9 from noon to 1 p.m. EST as they discuss how the recent political changes could impact the 340B Program and what it […]
January 26, 2021
WellSky will be hosting a webinar covering An Outpatient Rehabilitation Update: Practical Strategies for Success with New Regulations on February 9th starting at 11:00 a.m. CST. In December 2020, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released the fiscal year 2021 Physician Fee Schedule and Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rules. Less than […]
January 26, 2021
You’re Invited: The Year of Changes – PFS, FMV, CR, Stark, & AKS Webinar There have been a plethora of changes to PFS, FMV, CR, Stark, & AKS over the last few months coming from all different sides, but ultimately meeting in the middle. Join us Thursday, January 28, from 3:30 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. […]
