CMS has put the brakes on a much-ballyhooed program to encourage medical practices to purchase electronic health records after the recently passed economic stimulus law rendered the effort redundant. At last month's annual meeting of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) in Chicago, the Medicare agency said it was canceling Phase II of its national EHR demonstration in wake of the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. The move affects approximately 800 practices in eight communities.

It can't be emphasized enough: "You can't wait until January of ‘11. Get on this," advises James R. Morrow MD, managing partner of the Cumming, Ga., office of North Fulton Family Medicine in suburban Atlanta. Morrow is talking about the effective date of the new Medicare and Medicaid electronic health records (EHRs) incentive program created by the economic stimulus legislation enacted in February.

After spending $100,000 on electronic medical records software, hardware, training and maintenance over a five-year period, the Endocrine and Psychiatry Center in Houston gave up on its Misys Healthcare Systems EMR. "I couldn't afford it," says endocrinologist Rikesh Patel, DO, one of the practice's eight physicians. The practice then chooses a much, much cheaper option.  

We would like written guidance for code 43247 (operative upper GI endoscopy) for foreign body removal. I need to know how removal is defined for this code. Can it involve the foreign body being pushed into the stomach (i.e. food bolus), or does it mean the obstruction is pulled out of the body by forceps or suction.

The Senate confirmed the nomination of Kathleen Sebelius for HHS secretary by a 65-31 vote on April 28. The former Kansas governor was sworn in almost immediately and was briefed on the latest from the H1N1  swine flu outbreak, according to the White House Web site.

Dermatology providers are often split on whether to bill a service as a consult or transfer of care, but it's crucial to know the difference thanks to continuing OIG scrutiny (PBN 4/3/06). The question applies to every specialty, but it can be particularly confusing for dermatologists, because many primary care doctors treat basic skin problems, says Karen Hurley, president of Hurley Practice Management Services in Waldorf, Md.

This chart compares high-volume codes billed by family practitioners and internists. Specifically, the eight codes selected below represent services frequently billed by internists that are billed far less often by family doctors. Codes billed less than 1 million times annually by internists were excluded from analysis.

The Treasury Department has reduced the private consumer interest rate to 11%, which became the interest rate for Medicare overpayments and underpayments on April 16. This is the second-lowest rate in nine years, according to CMS data. The lowest interest rate - 10.75% - was in effect from Feb. 11, 2003 to April 27, 2003.

Over the last week, OIG Chief Counsel Lewis Morris has testified before Congressional committees discussing the need to crack down on fraud, waste and abuse. More regulation and scrutiny from the OIG, such as probation periods for new providers financed by enrollment application fees, might look good to lawmakers as Morris says the government gets back $17 for every $1 spent on OIG oversight.