Practice Management News

Beginning in 2015, physicians and other qualified health care professionals will be able to separately bill Medicare for providing non-face-to-face chronic care management, or CCM, services by billing CPT code 99490. In recognizing and payment for these non-face-to-face services, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has taken an important step toward recognizing that care coordination is an essential feature of providing high-quality primary care and that important aspects of this care occur when the patient is not in the office.

In a Chinese cohort of patients with hepatitis B virus infection, therapy with tenofovir disoproxil fumarate was safe and effective in treating the infection compared with adefovir dipivoxil, according to study data published in the Journal of Viral Hepatitis.

Prime Therapeutics LLC has entered into agreements with Gilead Sciences for the sale of Harvoni, and with AbbVie for the sale of Viekira Pak. The agreements enable both drugs to be available through the pharmacy benefit management company for the treatment of hepatitis C virus infection, according to a press release.

In a cohort of patients wait-listed for liver transplantation, perioperative immunonutrition did not improve preoperative nutritional status, positively affect postoperative recovery or reduce postoperative infection, according to recent study data.

Mipsagargin was effective in stabilizing hepatocellular carcinoma progression and was well tolerated among a cohort of patients with hepatocellular carcinoma, according to results of a phase 2 clinical trial presented at the Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium.

A successful neonatal organ donation recently was conducted at a London hospital, according to a report in the Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Following a European Marketing Authorization last week, Viekirax plus Exviera, with or without ribavirin, is now available in the United Kingdom for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 and 4 infections, according to a press release.

The European Commission granted marketing authorizations for Viekirax plus Exviera, with or without ribavirin, for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C genotype 1 and 4 infection, according to a press release.

In a prospective, open-label pilot study, a sofosbuvir and ribavirin regimen was safe and effective in treating recurrent hepatitis C virus infection after liver transplantation.

The FDA approved the latest version of the cobas TaqScreen MPX Test, an in vitro test, to be used for identifying and detecting HIV, hepatitis B and C virus infections in human blood donations and source plasma, according to a news release from the manufacturer.