Pinnacle's Blog & Publications
Non-Compete Contracting in Healthcare: Potential Impact on Physician Contracting and Alignment
Posted On: May 3, 2023Continue Reading >Introduction
A covenant not to compete (a.k.a. a non-compete agreement) is a contract or clause in a contract specifying that an employee or contractor (often through a professional services agreement) must not enter into competition with their employer or client. This agreement is for a specified period of time after the employment or service contract is over. The covenant not to compete may be in the context of other restrictive covenants, such as confidentiality covenants that prohibit the employee or contractor from revealing proprietary information or secrets to any other parties during or after their employment or ...
ICD-10-CM Codes for SDOH
Posted On: April 18, 2023Continue Reading >What are SDOH?
Per the World Health Organization (WHO) definition, “Social Determinants of Health (SDOH) are the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks”.
SDOH can be grouped into five (5) domains:
- Economic stability
- Education access and quality
- Healthcare access and quality
- Neighborhood & built environment
- Social & community context
The SDOH have an important influence on health inequities – the unfair and avoidable differences in health status seen within and between countries. In countries at all ...
Tele-Nephrology – The Future is Now
Posted On: March 14, 2023In recent years, the healthcare industry has seen a surge in the use of telehealth services, and nephrology is no exception. Remote nephrology, or tele-nephrology, involves the use of telecommunication technologies to provide nephrology services to patients who are not physically present in the same location as their healthcare provider (e-visits).
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PHC 3rd Quarter 2022 Real Estate Newsletter
Posted On: February 22, 2023Continue Reading >The Pinnacle Real Estate Group consists of a combination of professionals who use their extensive experience in both valuation and transaction services within the healthcare real estate industry to guide clients through multiple types of arrangements in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner.
This Newsletter covers recent activity and conditions specifically impacting the national healthcare real estate market and those who are learning how to succeed in it. The Pinnacle Real Estate Group has compiled the following current market information from sources such as CoStar, CBRE, and HREI.
Healthcare Real Estate Transactions
$10.75 Million MOB acquired ...
CMS Changes ACO Application Cycle! Are You Ready?
Posted On: February 21, 2023Continue Reading >The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized changes to the 2023 ACO application cycle steps and timelines. After collectively submitting 50+ successful applications, Pinnacle is excited to continue interpreting the ever-changing ACO policy and execute future applications with the learned lessons and best practices gathered over the years. Here are some of the major highlights of the changes:
- The Notice of Intent to Apply (NOIA) has been eliminated. Typically, in the past applicants had to submit an NOIA around the first week of June. CMS eliminated this step and moved up Phase 1 of the application. ...
New ACO/VBC Changes Announced: What You Need to Know!
Posted On: February 16, 2023Continue Reading >Our healthcare industry is undergoing a major transformation, with a focus on shifting from a fee-for-service model to a value-based model that prioritizes quality and outcomes over volume and cost. CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, stated “Through the CMS accountable care initiatives and working with our partners, we have made significant progress in addressing our greatest healthcare challenges.” Administration is looking to further the engagement and participation in various payment models by planning to release three to four new payment models, including more key stakeholders in healthcare. These models will be centered around advancing primary care, engaging specialists in ...
Sepsis Coding: How to Properly Code Sepsis
Posted On: January 26, 2023Continue Reading >Introduction:
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening complication of an infection and occurs when chemicals released in the bloodstream to fight the infection trigger inflammatory responses throughout the body. This inflammation can trigger a cascade of changes that damage multiple organ systems, causing them to fail. While the coding for sepsis can be particularly challenging, fortunately, we have the ICD-10-CM Official Guidelines for Coding and Reporting to use as a guide.
Chapter 1 of the ICD-10-CM guidelines provides incredibly detailed instruction on coding for sepsis, severe sepsis, and septic shock infections. The guidelines instruct to first assign the appropriate code for the underlying ...
Clinical Documentation Improvement: Are EMR Shortcuts Wreaking Havoc on Your Practice’s Documentation?
Posted On: January 16, 2023Continue Reading >As providers look for ways to document more efficiently, they are increasingly turning to technology-based shortcuts. Unfortunately, there are some pitfalls associated with relying on some electronic medical record (EMR) conveniences. In this article, we will discuss a few EMR shortcuts that have the potential to wreak havoc on your documentation.
Drop down ICD-10-CM Codes
Many EMRs offer the option to select diagnoses with correlating ICD-10-CM codes from a drop-down menu in the assessment and plan portion of the note which can be problematic for multiple reasons. We have encountered audits where providers consistently coded ...
PHC 3rd Quarter 2022 Real Estate Newsletter
Posted On: November 18, 2022Continue Reading >The Pinnacle Real Estate Group consists of a combination of professionals who use their extensive experience in both valuation and transaction services within the healthcare real estate industry to guide clients through multiple types of arrangements in a time-efficient and cost-effective manner.
This Newsletter covers recent activity and conditions specifically impacting the national healthcare real estate market and those who are learning how to succeed in it. The Pinnacle Real Estate Group has compiled the following current market information from sources such as CoStar, CBRE, and HREI.
Healthcare Real Estate Transactions
$10.75 Million MOB acquired ...
Diagnosis Coding: When to Assign a Diagnosis for E/M Services
Posted On: November 11, 2022Continue Reading >With the implementation of the AMA (American Medical Association) E/M (Evaluation and Management) documentation guidelines for office and outpatient visits in 2021 (and the pending 2023 E/M guideline changes for emergency department, inpatient, outpatient, nursing facility, and home/residence visits), there has been confusion about when to assign / capture a diagnosis code for E/M services.
Per the ICD-10-CM Section IV. Diagnostic Coding and Reporting Guidelines for Outpatient Services Guideline J, we should code all documented conditions that coexist:
Code all documented conditions that coexist at the time of the encounter/visit and that require or ...