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2 Min Read

Revamp underway for Medicare enrollment system

Bringing the Medicare physician enrollment process up to speed in the digital world may take some time, but recent significant steps in the right direction should reduce the hassles many physicians have experienced with the online process.

Medicare & Medicaid
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2 Min Read

CMS adds quality measures to Medicare's physician search site

CMS announced last week that quality measures will be added to its Physician Compare website, a move coming just days before Monday's scheduled town hall meeting to get public input on the website.

Payment & Delivery Models
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3 Min Read

More flexibility, time needed for EHR upgrades, groups tell HHS

A group of nearly 50 of the nation's largest physician and hospital organizations, including the AMA, Friday asked HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to make the meaningful use program more flexible and give physicians more time to implement software upgrades.

Medicare & Medicaid
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2 Min Read

Overriding doctor's orders-Case takes up hospital observation

A federal court case is shining light on the growing problem of inappropriately classifying hospital patients as “observation status” in an effort to cut down Medicare costs.

Judicial Advocacy
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3 Min Read

CMS promises end-to-end ICD-10 testing this summer

CMS announced it would conduct end-to-end testing of ICD-10 with a sample group of physicians this summer in response to a letter from the AMA urging further consideration of the code set.

Claims Processing
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2 Min Read

Deadline for Medicare meaningful use attestation extended

Physicians who participated in Medicare EHR program in 2013 now have until March 31 to attest to the meaningful use requirements, a month later than the original deadline of Feb. 28.

Medicare & Medicaid
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2 Min Read

Medicare ACOs saved $380 million in first year, CMS reports

Preliminary results for the first year of Medicare's two ACO programs indicate that the new model for care delivery and payment can be an effective way to rein in health care costs while improving quality.

Payment & Delivery Models
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3 Min Read

Frightening cost estimates for ICD-10 should make regulators listen

An AMA study released last week estimated dramatically high costs for practices to implement the mandated ICD-10 code set. As a physician, the study results were very frightening. 

Claims Processing
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2 Min Read

Judge orders arbitration period for Medicare Advantage terminations

Thousands of physicians dropped from UnitedHealthcare's Medicare Advantage network without cause have been granted 30 days to challenge their termination, thanks to a recent federal court ruling.

Judicial Advocacy