AHA, AHIMA panel submits E/M coding recommendations to CMS, -AND- Laidlaw Emerges From Chapter 11

CAL/AAEM News Service pottsbri@yahoo.com
Fri, 4 Jul 2003 18:11:48 -0700 (PDT)


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AHA NEWS NOW

The Daily Report for Health Care Executives

www.ahanews.com

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Friday, June 27, 2003

2) AHA, AHIMA panel submits E/M coding recommendations to CMS 

An AHA and American Health Information Management Association panel this week submitted to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services its recommendations for standardizing hospital evaluation and management

(E/M) coding of emergency department and clinical services. The recommendations address only "hospital" coding. They suggest replacing the current five levels of E/M facility care with three levels (low, mid and high) to improve consistency, reliability and ease of use. They also recommend creating E/M models that are intervention-based. CMS has said that any decision to move forward with new coding models for hospital E/M services would be done only after allowing adequate time for all hospitals to provide input on the models, for provider education and for implementation. A copy of the panel's recommendations is available at http://www.aha.org under "What's New."

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Copyright 2003 by the American Hospital Association. All rights reserved. For republication rights, contact Craig Webb. AHA News is a registered trademark of the American Hospital Association. The opinions expressed in AHA News Now are not necessarily those of the American Hospital Association.

===========================

Laidlaw Emerges From Chapter 11

The Associated Press 

NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Laidlaw International Inc. Monday said it has emerged from the Chapter 11 reorganization process after obtaining exit financing of about $1.2 billion. About $1 billion of the financing was used to fund a portion of the distributions to the company's creditors, Laidlaw said.

Laidlaw International, a Delaware corporation based in Naperville, is a holding company for North America's largest providers of school and city bus services, patient transportation and emergency department management services.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York confirmed the reorganization plan on Feb. 27.

The company said it completed an internal corporate restructuring, in which it acquired all of the assets of Laidlaw Inc., a Burlington, Ontario, corporation.

It has issued about 103.8 million shares of new common stock for distribution to Laidlaw Inc. creditors. About 31.2 million of these shares were issued to holders of Laidlaw International bank debt claims; about 58.1 million to holders of Laidlaw International bond debt claims and about 10.7 million will be available for distribution to holders of general unsecured claims. In addition, about 3.8 million shares were issued to a trust in connection with the company's settlement with the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. relating to the funding level of subsidiary pension funds.

Laidlaw Inc.'s prior common stock was canceled as of Monday.

The new shares of Laidlaw International were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange immediately following its bankruptcy exit, the company said.

In the United States, the new common stock is expected to trade on the over-the-counter market.



Brian Potts 
Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service 
MS-IV, UC-Irvine

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<DIV>
<P>AHA NEWS NOW</P>
<P>The Daily Report for Health Care Executives</P>
<P><A href="http://mail.yahoo.com/config/login?/ym/www.ahanews.com" target=_blank><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>www.ahanews.com</U></FONT></A></P><FONT size=2>
<P>===================================</P>
<P>Friday, June 27, 2003</P>
<P>2) AHA, AHIMA panel submits E/M coding recommendations to CMS </P>
<P>An AHA and American Health Information Management Association panel this week submitted to the Centers for Medicare &amp; Medicaid Services its recommendations for standardizing hospital evaluation and management</P>
<P>(E/M) coding of emergency department and clinical services. The recommendations address only "hospital" coding. They suggest replacing the current five levels of E/M facility care with three levels (low, mid and high) to improve consistency, reliability and ease of use. They also recommend creating E/M models that are intervention-based. CMS has said that any decision to move forward with new coding models for hospital E/M services would be done only after allowing adequate time for all hospitals to provide input on the models, for provider education and for implementation. A copy of the panel's recommendations is available at </FONT><A href="http://www.aha.org/" target=_blank><U><FONT color=#0000ff size=2>http://www.aha.org</U></FONT></A><FONT size=2> under "What's New."</P>
<P>==================================</P>
<P>Copyright 2003 by the American Hospital Association. All rights reserved. For republication rights, contact Craig Webb. AHA News is a registered trademark of the American Hospital Association. The opinions expressed in AHA News Now are not necessarily those of the American Hospital Association.</P></FONT>
<P>===========================</P>
<P><STRONG>Laidlaw Emerges From Chapter 11</STRONG></P>
<P>The Associated Press </P>
<P>NAPERVILLE, Ill. (AP) - Laidlaw International Inc. Monday said it has emerged from the Chapter 11 reorganization process after obtaining exit financing of about $1.2 billion. About $1 billion of the financing was used to fund a portion of the distributions to the company's creditors, Laidlaw said.</P>
<P>Laidlaw International, a Delaware corporation based in Naperville, is a holding company for North America's largest providers of school and city bus services, patient transportation and emergency department management services.</P>
<P>The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Western District of New York confirmed the reorganization plan on Feb. 27.</P>
<P>The company said it completed an internal corporate restructuring, in which it acquired all of the assets of Laidlaw Inc., a Burlington, Ontario, corporation.</P>
<P>It has issued about 103.8 million shares of new common stock for distribution to Laidlaw Inc. creditors. About 31.2 million of these shares were issued to holders of Laidlaw International bank debt claims; about 58.1 million to holders of Laidlaw International bond debt claims and about 10.7 million will be available for distribution to holders of general unsecured claims. In addition, about 3.8 million shares were issued to a trust in connection with the company's settlement with the U.S. Pension Benefit Guaranty Corp. relating to the funding level of subsidiary pension funds.</P>
<P>Laidlaw Inc.'s prior common stock was canceled as of Monday.</P>
<P>The new shares of Laidlaw International were listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange immediately following its bankruptcy exit, the company said.</P>
<P>In the United States, the new common stock is expected to trade on the over-the-counter market.</P></DIV><BR><BR><STRONG>Brian Potts <BR>Managing Editor, CAL/AAEM News Service</STRONG> <BR>MS-IV, UC-Irvine<p><hr SIZE=1>
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