I spent a whole day at the Institute on Medicare and Medicaid Payment Issues, a three-day conference held every year in Baltimore by the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA). Top consultants, CMS officials and industry representatives give detailed presentations and take questions, making the conference perfect for newsgathering. Check out my initial coverage in Part B News.
The weather in Maryland has been pretty depressing all week - chilly, overcast, skylines shrouded by fog - but that didn't put a damper on attendance. The hotel, which sits on the Baltimore waterfront, was packed with lawyers, accountants and Medicare experts. There were hundreds of attendees and dozens of speakers.
VIPs from CMS included Tom Valuck MD, CMS medical officer and senior adviser working on the agency's value-based purchasing initiative, and Connie Leonard, a project officer who works on recovery audit contractors (RACs). Jim Bossenmeyer, CMS's director of provider and supplier enrollment, also attended and gave multiple presentations, as did Valuck and Leonard.
It's no coincidence these officials were behind some of the hottest topics: RACs, Medicare enrollment and Medicare reform via value-based purchasing.
Next week I'll post some enrollment tips and guidelines from Bossenmeyer, plus his thoughts on CMS's online enrollment system - and why only providers can use it, despite the industry outcry. Also, look for additional in-depth coverage of the AHLA conference in next week's issue of Part B News.
(continued next week)