CMS Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, outlined the general direction he will lead the agency overseeing Medicare and Medicaid during a CMS conference call with physician practices on Tuesday. Dr. Berwick's attendance on the call, which was not advertised in advance, was one of his first interactions as an administrator with billers, practice managers and physicians specifically billing Medicare Part B.

He began his remarks by thanking CMS staff for hosting these forums and then commented on health care and the Medicare program. He called the Affordable Care Act "landmark" legislation to improve access, coverage and quality of care in America. The act is the most significant legislation since the creation of Medicare and Medicaid, he said. Dr. Berwick then discussed the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's idea of a "Triple Aim":

1. Better care for individuals that's safer and more effective;
2. Better population health behaviors; and
3. Reduce costs, waste without harming patients.

Click here to read more on Don Berwick

Note: This article was updated on Oct. 14.

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT) reports the Drummond Group has certified four electronic health record (EHR) products while Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has certified 36 products. Physician practices must use a certified EHR product to meet meaningful use standards under the EHR Incentive Program.

Here is the list of certified products.

Click here for more on EHR Incentive Program

Most of your peers cut costs by freezing salaries, reducing benefits or even laying off employees in 2009, according to the results of the most recent survey by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA). Practice specialty played the biggest role in 2009 revenues, the survey also showed. Family practitioners saw a 2.5% revenue increase while urology and cardiology lost big time, with declines of 10.8% and 8.8% respectively (Read more on MGMA practice revenue survey by specialty) ...

Time is running out for you to submit claims for services provided in 2009. Carriers are reminding practices that the rules for timely claims submission has changed and physicians no longer have up to 27 months to file a claim for reimbursement. All claims must be filed within 12 months.

The Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC) First Coast says practices should "allow time for mailing as the timeliness is calculated on the contractor receipt date, not the postmark date of when it is mailed."

Private or physician-owned medical groups outperformed their hospital- and integrated delivery system-owned counterparts, according to a recent Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) survey.

"Not-hospital/IDS-owned medical groups reported a slight increase in total relative value units (RVUs) per patient (0.09 percent) and a nearly 13% increase in work RVUs per patient," the MGMA said in a press release on its "Cost Survey for Multispecialty Practices: 2010 Report Based on 2009 Data." "Multispecialty groups that were hospital/IDS-owned reported a slight decrease in total RVUs per patient (0.55%) and a 17.85 % decrease in work RVUs per patient."

Read more on MGMA medical group data