News in brief - Dec. 17, 2007

AHIC endorses e-prescribing mandate - Ohio delays Medicaid doctor pay hikes - Physicians receiving Medicare survey - Romney supports federal medical liability reform

AHIC endorses e-prescribing mandate

The American Health Information Community, a public-private panel given the task of moving the nation away from paper-based health records, is the latest group to call for Medicare to require e-prescribing.

AHIC, led by Health and Human Service Secretary Michael Leavitt, called on Congress to grant HHS the authority to require physicians and pharmacists to use e-prescribing if they participate in Medicare. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently said it would develop new e-prescribing standards for professionals using paperless medication orders in the program.

Drug benefit managers, health plans and employers support the requirement, which they say would save money and lives. The American Medical Association supports the concept but says a costly mandate on physicians without proper financial incentives would be the wrong way to go, especially in light of the upcoming 10% Medicare payment cut for doctors.

Ohio delays Medicaid doctor pay hikes

Higher-than-expected Medicaid enrollment has led the Ohio Dept. of Jobs and Family Services and Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland to delay a 3% increase in Medicaid physician payment and program eligibility expansions. In recent months, Medicaid enrollment has been about 1%, or 15,000 people, higher than planned in the fiscal 2008-09 budget, said Family Services spokesman Dennis Evans. "It's something that gives us pause. We need to have a better handle on that before moving forward with the increases," Evans said.

Ohio State Medical Assn. President Craig W. Anderson, MD, was disappointed with the announcement, made late last month. "The trust between Ohio's physicians and state government has been violated. We negotiated in good faith throughout the budget process and were promised an increase after seven years of flat and inadequate funding that now has been frozen by the administration," he said.

Evans emphasized that the pay increases had not been canceled but only postponed.

He said it wasn't clear when the Strickland administration will make a final decision on the issue. Also delayed are Medicaid eligibility expansions from 200% to 300% for children and from 150% to 200% for pregnant women, among others.

Physicians receiving Medicare survey

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this month began sending its 2008 Medicare provider satisfaction survey to 35,000 physicians and other health professionals participating in the program.

The doctors and other participants in the fee-for-service program, whom the agency selected randomly, will be asked to rate their Medicare contractors on a scale from 1 to 6 based on how well they perform key services. The areas on which the contractors will be graded are provider inquiries; provider outreach and education; claims processing; appeals; provider enrollment; medical review; and provider audit and reimbursement.

Physicians who receive the survey and wish to participate can submit their responses to CMS via a secure Web site, mail, fax or telephone.

The agency said the survey can be completed in 15 minutes.

Romney supports federal medical liability reform

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts, called for federal medical liability reforms at a Nov. 20 address at Des Moines University in Iowa.

His proposal includes capping noneconomic damages and punitive awards in negligence cases, as well as measures to curb frivolous lawsuit filings. Romney encouraged states to adopt additional reforms "that will both honor the rights of patients and respect the work of physicians" according to a press release.

In addition, Romney said he supports measures aimed at reducing medical errors through improved information technology use.