Part B News

CMS addresses EHR online attestation concerns

by: Lauren C. Williams May 4, 2011

CMS walked through electronic health record (EHR) attestation in a conference call Tuesday, easing some provider concerns.

CMS released the online EHR attestation system in late April and instructed providers step-by-step on how to use the system during the conference call. There have been over 35,000 eligible attestations so far this year, CMS said. But the brevity of the instructional part of the call was offset by the volume of questions providers still had about the process. Here are some points CMS made clearer during the call:

Obama faces bipartisan resistance to independent Medicare board

by: Grant Huang Apr 25, 2011

President Obama faces opposition from both Republicans and Democrats on the Independent Physicians Advisory Board (IPAB) -- the most potent cost-cutting tool in the health reform law. Remember: The IPAB, which would be composed of physicians, would have the power to set Medicare payments for services based on comparative effectiveness research. The IPAB would, for example, be able to have Medicare pay less for procedures that are shown to be less effective.

Obama seeks to mandate Rx painkiller training

by: Lauren C. Williams Apr 20, 2011

The Obama Administration is pushing for a mandatory training requirement for doctors prescribing narcotics in an effort to curb the nation’s prescription painkillers epidemic.

CMS chief puts personal stamp on push for EHRs

by: Grant Huang Apr 18, 2011

CMS's push for you and your peers to adopt electronic health record (EHR) systems by 2016 has a passionate advocate in Administrator Donald Berwick, MD, a former pediatrician appointed by the Obama administration. Dr. Berwick, who is generally well regarded in the physician community, appears in a four-minute YouTube video released last week to make a personal case for EHR adoption. Dr. Berwick describes the benefits of an EHR from his clinical perspective, and tells an interesting anecdote of treating an autistic native American child in a remote reservation.

AMA issues wish-list of demands to CMS

by: Grant Huang Apr 15, 2011

What would you like CMS to give you for Christmas? The AMA is showing its cards -- in a recent letter sent to CMS chief Donald Berwick, the top physician advocacy group provided a long list of "the most burdensome regulations [physicians] deal with" and asked for change.

The letter is intended as a response to President Obama's Jan. 18 executive order asking federal agencies to remove or reduce regulations that unnecessarily have a negative impact on small business. The AMA's response takes aim at a dozen Medicare and Medicaid regulations and policies, including a few recent favorites you'll recognize.

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