What You Can—and Can’t—Convey in a Text Message to Other Providers

What You Can—and Can’t—Convey in a Text Message to Other Providers

New guidelines from The Joint Commission clarify what clinicians are allowed to convey via text messages. Urgent care providers should especially be aware that clinicians are allowed to text each other using a HIPAA-compliant platform as long as they don’t do so to send patient care orders.  The new guidance, drawn up in consultation with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, also stipulates that all healthcare organizations should have policies prohibiting the use of …

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Urgent Care Pushes CMS to Adopt Patient Copays Instead of Coinsurance

Urgent Care Pushes CMS to Adopt Patient Copays Instead of Coinsurance

The Urgent Care Association (UCA) sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) in favor of lowering the copay patients would be responsible for when visiting an urgent care visit, effective in 2018. The changes would affect the cost-sharing structure for “standardized options” (ie, Simple Choice plans) that plan issuers offer in the individual insurance marketplace. Standardized options are intended to simplify the consumer plan selection process; each has a single …

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