With an eye toward finding a permanent fix to the flawed physician payment system, the Senate Finance Committee on May 10 held the first in a series of informal roundtable discussions.

The current “Doc Fix” law that prevented a 27% cut to physician fees is due to expire Dec. 31, a prospect that has caused concern both among physician organizations and members of Congress.

At this first meeting, the Senators hashed over the history of the sustainable growth rate (SGR), and invited four former Medicare officials to join the discussion.

The American Medical Association asks for a lot of Meaningful Use Stage 2 changes. As is customary, when HHS put out its proposed rule for EHR Meaningful Use Stage 2,  it invited comments. AMA posted theirs this week in a letter that runs to 37 pages and is co-signed by 100 affiliated associations, including state medical associations and professional practice groups. (AMA sent a shorter letter on this subject in March.)

The Department of Justice today announced another major fraud bust, with a total of 107 individiuals - including doctors, nurses and social workers - charged in seven cities around the country.

You could face harsher requirements, including prepayment review and minimizing exemptions, to verify meaningful use for CMS’ Electronic Health Records (EHR) system Incentive Programs.

CMS now essentially "takes providers' word" for following all meaningful use requirements and only does a cursory check before mailing the bonuses (PBN 8/9/11). 

The Government Accounting Office (GAO) is urging CMS to adopt stricter standards, such as pre- and post-payment reviews, to ensure providers are meeting the meaningful use reporting requirements for both the Medicare and Medicaid programs, the agency announced in an late-April report on the programs’ first year success. Medicaid programs in at least four states already use these methods, the report states.