Part B News

Insider: ACO proposed rule a 'very tough sell' for small practices

by: Grant Huang Apr 8, 2011

Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are the talk of town at the moment, but the current proposed rule for ACOs offers little incentive for small to medium-sized physician practices to participate, according to one industry insider.

"Only those groups that truly have the money and resources are going to play," says this source, who works as a regulatory analyst and lobbyist at a major physician advocacy group in Washington. "As the rule is set up now, it's a very tough sell for smaller groups ... and a lot of care in this country is provided by small practices, five providers or less."

Brief shutdown won't hit Medicare payments to providers, unless it's lengthy

by: Lauren C. Williams Apr 8, 2011

While Congress is racing to squash budget disputes and avoid a government shutdown, you and your peers are wondering whether your Medicare payments will be hit. The short answer is no – assuming the shutdown is short, that is.

“Medicare would continue to pay claims for care provided to people with Medicare…it’s not like Medicare would run out of money,” an HHS spokesman says. “If the shutdown would continue for an extended period of time contractors may have to slow or stop payments.”

HHS would not elaborate on the exact length of time contractors would have before slowing or stopping payments.

2012 Budget proposal takes Medicare for a spin.

by: Lauren C. Williams Apr 6, 2011

The federal government is days away from a shutdown if Congress can’t agree on a 2012 budget. And one of the proposals puts Medicare on the chopping block. Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) furnished a budget Tuesday that would save the government over $4 trillion over the next 10 years, CBS News reports.

Survey suggests calm to follow industry angst in EHR switch

by: Lauren C. Williams Apr 5, 2011

If you are worried about switching your long-standing paper filing system to electronic health records (EHR), you are not alone. The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) published survey results on March 30 from 349 practices with over 13,000 physicians regarding their EHR transitions and the results depict much angst among your peers. Over half of the respondents described a significant or very significant loss of productivity during EHR implementation.

AMA: Physicians help boost the economy

by: Lauren C. Williams Mar 29, 2011

Doctors are a trillion-dollar crux of the national economy, according to the American Medical Association’s latest report. The AMA released a study March 23 that said office-based physicians contributed $1.4 trillion to economic activity and 4 million jobs in 2009.

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