With cold weather and the flu season fast approaching, take comfort in the knowledge that Medicare will pay you for administering the H1N1 or swine flu vaccine to patients. You will get vaccine doses for free, Part B News has learned.

Your prospects for a bipartisan health reform bill have worsened as the August Congressional recess ends, but no matter what happens, it's becoming clear that you can expect three things to happen, experts say.

This chart shows the median ratios of physician compensation to practice collections by specialty, based on 2008 survey data by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA).

A detailed list of the seven key health reform provisions affecting physicians and where they are in the legislative process.

Your RAC is currently allowed to look back only three years and carriers by law may look back four years. But when the mistakes they uncover lead to fraud suspicions, other CMS contractors gain the right to look back much further into your claims filing history, Part B News has learned.

This week's question is answered by John Burns CPC, senior consultant for DecisionHealth Professional Services.

Q. Can we bill for diabetic self-management training (DSMT) while we're in the process of being accredited?

CMS will have final authority over whether your carrier can accept your settlement offer, but here are several effective arguments you can make to boost your chances, according to attorneys familiar with the process.

A recent Part B News article stated you won't be reimbursed for copying records to fulfill a RAC request (PBN 8/24/09). CMS's Commander Marie Casey, RN, of the Division of Recovery Operations, has stated money to reimburse providers billing the Physician Fee Schedule has already been factored in payments for services - and, your RAC won't provide you with any reimbursement for reproducing records.

Instead of scrambling to get an electronic health record installed and up to speed by January 2011, take a deep breath, relax and plot out the strategy that works best for you and your practice. It looks like you'll have time.

Your physicians are not as technophobic as some would have you believe. They just want technology that's easy to use, saves them time, and, above all, enhances their ability to practice medicine. Electronic health records don't always do that. Smartphones, for the most part, do.