The AMA, along with dozens of other physician groups, are asking in a nine-page letter for CMS to make more changes to its May 26 e-prescribing (e-Rx) proposed rule.

“While we appreciate the modifications CMS presented in the proposed rule, they don’t go far enough. More changes are needed, including establishing an additional reporting period in 2012 and not applying penalties until 2013,”said former AMA president Cecil Wilson in a news release.

National spending on health care will rise faster than the country's gross domestic product (GDP) over the next 10 years, driven by key provisions in the Affordable Care Act, according to a new CMS report that projects spending statistics through 2020. The result will be "significantly" increased demand for prescription drugs and physician and clinical services, the report says. Healthcare spending is projected to grow at an average rate of 5.8% per year over the next decade, while GDP is projected to grow at just 4.7% per year. The result is that healthcare will grow from being 17.6% of GDP in 2010 to 19.8% of GDP in 2020, says Sean Keehan, an economist in the Office of the Actuary at CMS.

We're in the middle of our three-day online survey on electronic health records (EHRs). You know you want to take the next two minutes to click through our short, seven-question survey. By taking our survey, you'll be giving us reliable guidance on which stories to write and prioritize in future issues of Part B News. Interested in what your peers are saying so far? Click to check out some of the results from the survey in progress.

A 43-page draft proposal outlining the details of the Pioneer model for accountable care organizations (ACO) was obtained and released Friday by The Hill, a Washington-based political paper. Remember: CMS delegated its Innovation Center, a health reform creation set to create and experiment with new payment models to reduce program costs,  to devise three classes of ACOs:  the Pioneer ACO model, Advance Payment ACO Initiative, and Accelerated Development Learning Sessions.

While the vast majority of physicians know about the incentive bonuses they can earn by implementing an electronic health record (EHR) and meeting meaningful use, barely a third know that failing to do so by 2015 will result in a Medicare payment penalty. This significant discrepancy in knowledge was uncovered in a survey of 500 physicians by Physicians' Reciprocal Insurers (PRI).