Industry News Archives

Court Decides Patients Don’t Have the Right to Ambient AI Recordings

By Lee Fifield

In Health Law

Sep 15th, 2026

No Comments

A Washington judge says exam room audio is for administrative purposes only. In one of the first legal rulings on the subject in the U.S., a Washington trial court judge has found that ambient clinical audio recordings that physicians use to help create their final clinical notes serve an administrative purpose; therefore, patients don’t have ...

COVID-19 Vaccine Pricing for 2026-2027

By Renee Dustman

In Billing

Sep 14th, 2026

No Comments

National payment allowances for COVID-19 vaccines given during the 2026-2027 season are now available. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the update on Sept. 1. Prices for the following COVID-19 vaccines are effective Aug. 27, 2026. CPT® Descriptor Product Payment 91304 Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) (coronavirus disease [COVID-19]) vaccin...

Operationalizing the Maternity Care Restructuring: Closing the 2026 Revenue Gap

By Madison Gardner

In Billing

Sep 8th, 2026

No Comments

If your obstetrics and gynecology (ob-gyn) team is treating the CPT® 2027 maternity restructure as a January code update, you are already behind. The coding change is real, and it is large. Effective Jan. 1, 2027, the CPT Editorial Panel’s maternity care services revision moves obstetric reporting away from the legacy global maternity packages and ...

Medicare Adds Coverage to Colorectal Cancer Screening NCD

By Terry Fletcher

In Billing

Sep 8th, 2026

No Comments

Effective June 8, 2026, non-invasive biomarker screening tests are a covered modality for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening under Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) updated national coverage determination (NCD) 210.3: Colorectal Cancer Screening Tests on August 27. This is both a coverage and documentation issue. A laboratory test appearing on an order ...

Why Healthcare Organizations Need CPC-M™ Coders Now

By Renee Dustman

In AAPC News

Sep 3rd, 2026

No Comments

The business of healthcare is rapidly changing, and artificial intelligence (AI) is only making things more complicated. Remember what it was like to implement electronic health records? That was cake compared to what AI will take to standardize. To navigate this next challenge, providers will need experienced coders who are ready to lead the crusade. ...