The transmittal updating Medicare's enrollment policy (see story) provides you with four examples illustrating how new rules will be implemented. 

Expect Medicare to crack the whip beginning April 1 on the new, restrictive enrollment policies we've been telling you about (PBN 2/16/09). The biggest impact is that the policy shortens the amount of time you can retroactively bill claims when you are enrolling a provider with Medicare.

The $19 billion in health information technology (HIT) incentives found in the latest economic stimulus bill has wide-support in the medical community, but physicians still want to get more out of their electronic medical record (EMR) systems. Physicians attending a HIT forum sponsored by eHealth Initiative and IBM March 20 said EMR systems need to be more "patient-centered" and allow for an information exchange with other systems to improve quality at the point of care.

Speaking before a packed audience of key healthcare players at the White House, President Obama hammered home the urgent need for health reform this year at a March 5 summit attended by Part B News. "The cost of healthcare now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds," he began. "The problems we have today are a direct consequence of actions we failed to take yesterday."

A key physician advisory panel wants CMS to prevent Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs) from reviewing your E/M claims and urged the agency to take steps to further limit RACs during a March 9 meeting in Washington.  

Part B News brief

This week's question is answered by Sean Weiss, vice president of DecisionHealth Professional Services.

Q. Where can I find the regulations you use to make recommendations on what a provider must include in his dictations pertaining to consults?

You need to check, double-check and triple-check claims with modifier 79 (unrelated procedure or service by the same physician during the postoperative period) because your carrier is on the look out for inappropriate use of this modifier. 

An analyst warned Congress that expanding or creating another government-funded insurance plan to cover the uninsured could put a tremendous financial burden on providers.

The creation of a public health plan to widen coverage and the changing of physician payment top the list of controversial issues that must be tackled for health reform to happen, lawmakers and experts said at an AMA conference in Washington. A slew of high-profile speakers discussed various ideas for payment reform, delivery system changes and the prospects for compromise and bipartisanship in Congress. The conclusion? Things probably won't go as planned, but some kind of reform is likely.