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OTHER NEWS
- On January 10, The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) published a document that outlines the incentives available for physicians who choose to participate in the Physician Quality Reporting System, Electronic Prescribing, and Electronic Health Records incentive programs. This is a valuable analysis of how physicians can achieve increased Medicare payments through participation in the available programs. Additionally, the document outlines how the various incentive programs interact with each other. If you have questions, please contact Carol Monaco, Director of Federal Affairs, AOA, at cmonaco@osteopathic.org.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) have also produced a tutorial to assist physicians in determining if they are eligible to participate in the electronic health records incentive program. We encourage you to download this resource to your websites and to promote it to your members. Please contact Leann Fox, AOA, at lfox@osteopathic.org if you have questions. Instructions are available at http://browserspring.com/widgets/cms/test.html
- Electronic health records incentives registration starts January 3, 2011. Click here for more details.
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- On Thursday, December 9, 2010, the House and Senate passed legislation preventing the 24.9% cut in Medicare physician payments scheduled to take effect on January 1, 2011. The “Medicare and Medicaid Extenders Act of 2010” (H.R. 4994) extends current Medicare payment policies for 12 months, expiring on December 31, 2011. The passage of H.R. 4994 marks the 5th time this year that Congress has enacted legislation preventing cuts in Medicare payments for physicians.
In addition to preventing cuts in physician payments, H.R. 4994 extends several provisions set for expiration on December 31. Most notably of those provisions, is a 12 month extension of the floor of 1.0 for the “work” geographic practice cost indices or GPCI for all geographic regions. This provision is important to most rural communities, and provides equity in payments in relation to larger urban areas.
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Additionally, the legislation provides $200 million to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to process and pay claims filed during 2010 that are eligible for higher payments as a result of changes in legislation.
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- FTC extends the enforcement deadline for Red Flag Rule until December 31, 2010.
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- On line Medicare Provider Enrollment PECOS Deadline Now July 6, 2010.
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- The Physician Quality reporting Initiative (PQRI) Web site is now available at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri.
Alert and Reporting Form from ISDH regarding A/H1N1 (Swine Flu)
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- New Guidelines from Surgeon General on Tobacco Cessation.
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- Renew license on-line.
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