You’ll have an easier time forking over your $505 Medicare enrollment fee thanks to CMS integrating its web-based Provider Enrollment Chain Ownership System (PECOS) into Pay.gov, the federal government’s national online payment portal. Remember:The $505 enrollment fee applies to institutional providers, suppliers of durable medical equipment/supplies and independent diagnostic testing facilities (IDTFs). Your physicians and non-physician practitioners must also pay the $505 if they provide DME, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies.

CMS plans to install the newest round of health reform changes for Medicare Advantage (MA) and Part D plans such as closing the donut hole and more MA benefits set to take effect in 2013 via the Changes to the Medicare Advantage and the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Programs proposed rule, an Oct. 3 CMS news release says. 

Rite Aid, the nationwide drug store chain, is now allowing customers to have face-to-face virtual consultations with providers in its stores. The service is very similar to Medicare’s telehealth services, but are not covered by Medicare currently. It also seems like the next step up from in-pharmacy consultations with non-physician providers such as nurse practitioners – the model used by MinuteClinic, which operates in CVS pharmacies.

You will now get paid for billing magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) tests for patients with FDA-approved cardiac pacemakers on claims submitted after July 7, CMS says in a transmittal released Sept. 26.

Remember: CMS previously considered MRIs a contraindication for cardiac pacemaker patients, as well as those with metallic clips on vascular aneurysms, and would not pay those claims with certain exceptions.

Primary care practices would have a shot at collecting some extra cash while trying a new, more comprehensive clinical approach under a new CMS pilot program. The Comprehensive Primary Care Initiative (CPCI) is a four-year program that pay you an extra $20 per patient, per month, on top of regular Medicare fee-for-service charges. The $20 rate, dubbed a “monthly care management fee,” is good for the first two years; then the rate falls to $15 per patient, per month. Additional cash: If after two years, the total cost incurred by participating practices is less than that of non-participating practices, a portion of the savings is shared with participants.