Newsroom

WHA Information Center (WHAIC) will post articles that are related to data submissions and data use.

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  Medicare Preventive Services

  June 22, 2022

  Medicare covers many preventive services at no cost to patients. Medicare encourages patients to take advantage of appropriate preventive services to prevent and find diseases early, when treatment works best.



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  NGS Stakeholder Newsletter April 2022

  April 21, 2022

  National Government Services (NGS) providing information about changes to Medicare and the training opportunities available.



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  Wisconsin Hospital Association Releases the 2022 Workforce Report

  March 23, 2022

  WHA’s 2022 Wisconsin Health Care Workforce Report shows that an aging workforce combined with a spike in worker departures associated with nationwide employment disruption dubbed the “Great Resignation” created unprecedented levels of vacancy rates in health care professions in 2021.



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  Renewal of Determination That A Public Health Emergency Exists

  January 14, 2022

  The Public Health Emergency (PHE) has been extended.  The PHEs can only be declared/extended each 90 days.  



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  Biden-Harris Administration Issues Guidance to States on Required Medicaid and CHIP Coverage for COVID-19-Related Treatment

  October 22, 2021

  The Biden-Harris Administration is ensuring that 144 million people enrolled in Medicare, Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) have access to COVID-19 treatments.  Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued guidance to states about the statutory requirement for states to cover COVID-19-related treatment without cost-sharing in Medicaid and CHIP for many seniors, low-income adults, pregnant women, children, and people with disabilities who receive health coverage through these programs. 



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  Renewal of Determination That A Public Health Emergency Exists

  October 19, 2021

  As expected, the Public Health Emergency (PHE) has been extended.  The PHEs can only be declared/extended each 90 days.  This will allow the PHE to extend until mid-January 2022.  Many of the waivers are effective throughout the year which the PHE ends - which will now be through December 31, 2022.



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  Keeping HIM Education Relevant to Workforce Needs

  October 05, 2021

  The primary focus of health information management (HIM) educators is preparing a modern workforce through the delivery of curricula content to meet the needs of the healthcare industry. From the inception of the accreditation of educational programs in HIM (formerly medical records) in the 1930s, AHIMA has established standards and competencies for accredited programs in HIM to achieve this goal.



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  How Social Determinants of Health Documentation Impacts Health Equity

  August 18, 2021

  Advanced practice clinical documentation integrity (APCDI) plays an important role in ensuring accurate social determinants of health (SDoH) documentation. The government and private sector are addressing the importance of SDoH data to assess and alleviate healthcare disparities and inequities.



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  Important News for Coders: Quantifying the Sequelae Following Acute COVID-19

  August 17, 2021

  The healthcare community's understanding of post-COVID-19 conditions is progressing and will undoubtedly evolve as people continue to contract the virus. However, collecting accurate data and gauging severity can be challenging, as the data collected must rely on self-reporting in many instances. So the Oct. 1 implementation of a new code for COVID sequelae comes not a moment too soon.



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  Emergency COVID Response Strained Hospitals, Delayed Regular Care

  April 27, 2021

  WHAIC recently developed a 2020 COVID lookback.  The lookback illustrates through data, analysis, and objective narrative the impacts of COVID on Wisconsin hospitals, health systems and their patients last year.  It is important to put 2020 into some context and understand what our health care system has endured as the state addresses current and ongoing challenges, learns from experience, and looks forward.



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  Biden-Harris Administration Increases Medicare Payment for Life-Saving COVID-19 Vaccine

  March 15, 2021

  Today, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is increasing the Medicare payment amount for administering the COVID-19 vaccine. At a time when vaccine supply is growing, CMS is supporting provider efforts to expand capacity and ensure that all Americans can be vaccinated against COVID-19 as soon as possible.