CMS ANNOUNCES POLICY, PAYMENT RATE CHANGES FOR THE PHYSICIAN FEE SCHEDULE IN 2012
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) today issued a final rule with comment period that updates payment policies and rates for physicians and nonphysician practitioners (NPPs) for services paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) in calendar year (CY)
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HHS has issued its 2012 OIG Work Plan. Following are some particular areas of concern for physicians:
Physician-Owned Distributors of Spinal Implants: OIG will determine the extent to which physician-owned distributors (PODs) provide spinal implants purchased by hospitals and whether PODs are associated with high use of spinal implants. The Work Plan notes that Congress has…
CMS has finally released the final rule for the Medicare Shared Savings Program, which is the program that establishes the rules for Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).
The initial industry objections to the ACO concept and the proposed regulations was that it was so complicated, so limited and potentially so expensive that it would be impossible…
CMS has taken a small step to implement President Obama’s executive order instructing federal agencies to eliminate regulations that obsolete or overly burdensome to business.
On October 24, 2011 CMS published the final rule revising Ambulatory Surgery Center (ASC) conditions for coverage to allow patient rights information to be provided to the patient, the patient’s…
On October 25th from 1-2:30PM EDT, CMS is hosting a webinar on clinical quality measures in relation to attesting to meaningful use for the EHR incentive programs. The objective of this program is to help small practice providers to report clinical quality measures during attestation.
Online registration link:
https://www150.livemeeting.com/lrs/8000055450/Registration.aspx?pageName=s36ckzf634r1dzvv
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The United States Patent and Trademark Office ("USPTO") has released in October 2011 the Trademark Manual of Examining Procedure ("TMEP").
The final rule on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) has been released by CMS. The final rule implements section 3022 of the Affordable Care Act which contains provisions relating to Medicare payments to providers of services and suppliers participating in ACOs under the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
An advance copy of the final rule may be…
As they do every year, the Internal Revenue Service released the dollar limits that apply to qualified retirement plans.Continue Reading 2012 Limits for Qualified Retirement Plans
In OIG Advisory Opinion No. 11-12, a nationally ranked tertiary hospital proposes to establish a telemedicine program for neuro-emergency clinical protocols and consultations for stroke victims and to provide this program without cost to existing affiliated community hospitals. Since a key component of the program would be the provision of hardware, software and communications applications…
The Obama administration has halted plans to implement the long-term care program in the 2010 health care law after determining that financing plans for it were not sufficient.
The Community Living Assistance Services and Supports (CLASS) Act, a program championed by the late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, has come under withering criticism from…
