Would your physicians jump at the chance to bid to treat Medicare patients? It's an idea former CMS senior advisor Peter Bach MD, a pulmonary specialist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, opined about in today's The New York Times.

Mega congratulations to Part B News Executive Editor Scott Kraft for taking first place honors at the annual Specialized Information Publishers Association (SIPA) awards in Washington on June 2. Mr. Kraft won for his work on the Denial Code Dictionary in the Best Reference Publication category.

The 2009 Denial Code Dictionary is an accurate and authoritative information resource on the Remittance Advice Remark Codes used by Medicare and other payers. The dictionary helps physician offices and pracitices decipher and decode remittance advices so you can quickly fix errors on claims stopping your payments. For more information on this must-have book, go to www.decisionhealth.com/pbn/DenialCodeDictionary.

A Part B News subscriber called me up the other day wanting to know more about patient-centered medical homes (PCMH). She says she has her doubts about the PCMH concept that government leaders and some medical associations support. She fears the PCMH will hurt individual and small practices. We wrote about medical homes in the March edition of the Physician Office Technology Report. The American Academy of Family Physicians (or, AAFP) defines the medical home as: A patient-centered medical home integrates patients as active participants in their own health and well-being.

The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) blog has an online petition asking for your support to streamline health insurance identification cards. Project SwipeIT calls for the issuance of machine-readable cards (with a magnetic strip much like a credit card) by 2010. The cards would save providers time and money by eliminating hassles of photocopying insurance cards, entering patient data into your computer system and more.

Here is the latest update on the H1N1 influenza virus (or, the swine flu) outbreak from the CDC. The number of reported cases has reached roughly 8,000 cases, up from 5,000 a week ago. There are now 11 deaths linked to the swine flu. Subscribers can read our coverage, which includes Medicare billing advice, here and here.