Implementation of an electronic health record-based prompt significantly increased hepatitis C screening rates among baby boomers in primary care. According to the researchers, HCV screening among adults born between 1945 and 1965 increased fivefold during a 1-year period following implementation of the Best Practice Advisory (BPA) EHR alert.

The addendum for new codes coming out was recently released with many notable additions and deletions. The next several articles in this series will address some of these conditions in order to help us get ready for the October 1 implementation date.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) arrested 412 individuals, including 115 licensed medical professionals, across the country for alleged involvement in health care fraud schemes totaling around $1.3 billion in false billing and “unlawful” distribution of opioids and other narcotics, according to a statement. It is the largest health care fraud enforcement action ever taken by the agency.

The final codes include 322 more changes than what was proposed by CMS in April's hospital IPPS rule. Starting Oct. 1, it will be possible to select a specific ICD-10-CM code when a patient is in remission from abuse of each of a variety of substances, including alcohol, opioids, cannabis and nicotine