Vital Signs: A March 2025 wrap-up of revenue cycle management healthcare news

Welcome to “Vital Signs,” your go-to monthly roundup of all things related to RCM tailored for independent practices and medical billers. Access previous editions for the top insights and developments here.

It has been another busy month of revenue cycle management news with developments related to telehealth flexibilities, potential Medicaid cuts, artificial intelligence (AI)-generated portal messages, and more. Here’s a roundup of 9 newsworthy stories to share with others in your medical practice or medical billing company.  

The specifics: Congress recently passed a federal spending bill that extends telehealth provisions through September 30, 2025. 

Why it matters: Among other COVID-era waivers, the bill removes geographic and originating site restrictions, allowing patients to receive telehealth services from various locations, including their homes, regardless of where they live. Its passage prevents millions of Americans from being cut off from essential healthcare services. However, there’s also a growing awareness of the impact of broadband deserts on telehealth and the need to address lack of access to high-speed and reliable Internet.

What’s next: Stay tuned for future developments as September 30 approaches. The American Telemedicine Association provides a new advocacy tool that allows clinicians and others to send customized letters to representatives and senators. Also, be sure to focus on compliant medical coding and clinical documentation when billing telehealth services — especially when leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) tools. This article can help.

The specifics: The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently announced it would end the public comment process for pending health regulations and policy changes thanks to a "good cause" exception in the Administrative Procedure Act that the agency says allows it to bypass notice and comment when procedures are "impracticable, unnecessary, or contrary to the public interest."

Why it matters: Public comments give stakeholders an opportunity to warn regulators of pitfalls, suggest changes, or affirm support, all of which is important when finalizing regulations and policy changes. Clinicians and advocates predict this policy will harm patients and doctors. 

What’s next: Stay tuned for additional developments, including the impact (if any) on annual Medicare rulemaking.

The specifics: If passed, this is a bill proposing to cut federal spending by $880 billion over the next decade (and likely targeting mostly Medicaid). 

Why it matters: Experts say these changes could cause uncompensated care costs to increase and leave states with tough choices about how to offset reductions through tax increases or cuts to other programs, like education. In addition, if Congress enacts a work requirement in states that expanded their Medicaid coverage, more than 5 million adults could lose Medicaid coverage in 2026.

What’s next: Begin having conversations about the potential impact of Medicaid cuts on your medical practice and how you might offset it with new service lines and other strategies. 

The specifics: In its most recent report to Congress, the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) said physicians should get an annual 1.3% increase in Medicare claims reimbursement, and there should be a separate safety-net payment averaging 1.7% more for clinicians serving low-income fee-for-service beneficiaries.

Why it matters: The American Medical Association says these payment cuts endanger physician practices, causing staffing layoffs and forcing some physicians to go out of business. 

What’s next: Stay tuned for additional developments and continue to look for new revenue opportunities. For example, medical practices may be able to expand remote monitoring programs and chronic care management services, or they may be able to bill for patient portal messages and risk assessments for hereditary cancer — especially in primary care settings.

The specifics: A recent study found that patients have a slight preference for clinician messages written by AI over those written by a human. However, when participants were explicitly told that a response was AI-generated, there was a slight decline in satisfaction.

Why it matters: AI-generated responses could help reduce physician workload and burnout, but practices should carefully consider how they communicate AI’s role in patient interactions to maintain trust and uphold ethical standards.

What’s next: The White House’s Blueprint for an AI Bill of Rights advocates for transparency in AI-assisted interactions, and as more physicians explore the use of AI — particularly in primary care — they must decide whether and how to disclose information to patients. One proposed approach is to use brief and clear disclosure statements, like, “This message was written by Dr. T with the support of automated tools,” which was the most preferred (33%) phrasing among study participants.

The specifics: In 2024, the collection rate for providers from commercially insured patients fell more than 3 percentage points, from 37.6% in 2023 to 34.4%, according to recent data. 

Why it matters: Aging patient accounts receivable can greatly impact a medical practice’s cash flow and financial sustainability. 

What’s next: Medical practices can take a proactive approach by improving point-of-service collections and collection on bad debt, promoting patient education and financial engagement, or even partnering with a third-party billing and collections vendor to enhance performance.

The specifics: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced that it would end several alternative payment model programs at the end of 2025, including the Primary Care First and Making Care Primary models as well as the End Stage Renal Disease Treatment Choices model. Primary Care First was scheduled to run through 2026, and Making Care Primary was scheduled through 2034. ESRD Treatment Choices was supposed to end in 2027. 

Why it matters: Based on an analysis of published evaluation reports and financial forecasting, CMS estimates a savings of almost $750,000,000 by ending the selected models early. 

What’s next: CMS said it will announce a new strategy to lower costs and improve quality centered on disease prevention through evidence-based practices and consumer empowerment. 

The specifics: Eighty-one percent of physicians believe technical proficiency is as important as clinical expertise in their practices, according to a recent survey. Physicians also emphasized the need for non-clinical training in medical school, with the top 3 desired topics being electronic health record-keeping (44%), telemedicine platforms (42%), and diagnostic AI tools (42%).

Why it matters: These results highlight the growing role of technology in enabling more efficient and accurate care. Physicians surveyed say AI will be the most cutting-edge technology to positively impact patient care in the next 5 years, followed by genomics in personalized medicine and remote robotic surgery. 

What’s next: Start exploring the potential impact of these technologies in your medical practice, including ways to leverage these solutions to address physician burnout.

The specifics: In a recap of the Virtual 42^nd Annual HIPAA Summit, TechTarget recently reported that the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) has been reviewing thousands of comments related to proposed Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Security Rule updates. In addition, OCR has contacted 50 covered entities and business associates to participate in the 2024-2025 audits. Under review: Compliance with selected provisions of the HIPAA Security Rule most relevant to hacking and ransomware attacks.

Why it matters: These audits give OCR an opportunity to discover risks and vulnerabilities that OCR's enforcement activities may not have revealed.

What’s next: Stay tuned for a final HIPAA Security Rule as well as an OCR industry report summarizing OCR’s findings after the 2024-2025 HIPAA Audits are completed.