This chart shows the ten specialties that had the highest practice expense per hour, according to the 2007-2008 Physician Practice Information Survey (PPIS), administered by the AMA in conjunction with CMS.

Your ambulatory surgery center (ASC) needs to be ready for a surprise CMS inspection at anytime, thanks to a new HHS inspection program to cut down on healthcare-associated infections (see story here). Follow these 12 guidelines approved by the CDC and HHS to minimize the occurrence of the four most common types of infections - and to keep your ASC safe during a surprise inspection.

Your ambulatory surgery center (ASC) could be one of more than 125 ASCs to face surprise inspections by state officials starting sometime in August, according to an HHS announcement. Those 125 will be the first of thousands to face inspection.

Your practice may see tougher enforcement of HIPAA security and privacy rules now that authorities policing the law are under one roof, experts tell Part B News. HHS transferred authority to enforce HIPAA security rules from CMS to the Office for Civil Rights (OCR), which already handles enforcement of privacy rules. The move eliminates duplication and will make enforcement of HIPAA regulations more efficient, HHS stated on Aug. 3.

You can soon expect better and quicker customer service from your carrier after CMS outlined a series of new mandates in an Aug. 7 transmittal. CMS is setting the bar higher for your Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).

Picture this: During a visit for one covered, specific health issue, a patient brings up unrelated problems that are not covered, so you bill the patient for the additional work. The patient is upset by having to pay extra, complains loudly and the next thing you know, your local television station is camped outside trying to ask you questions. The result is an unfriendly headline: "Woman Charged Extra for Asking Doctor Too Many Questions."

You now know what targets your Recovery Audit Contractor (RAC) will be looking for if you're in one of the 17 Region D states. A total of seven CMS-approved audit targets were released by HealthDataInsights (HDI) on Aug. 12. They are the exact same targets Connolly Healthcare posted on Aug. 4 (PBN 8/10/09).

You're getting yet another reprieve from implementation of the Red Flag Rules. The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) announced it will not enforce the rules until Nov. 1. They were scheduled to take effect Aug. 1. This is the third delay for the rules, which are widely opposed in the physician community (PBN 10/27/08). They were initially set to take effect Nov. 1, 2008, which was later delayed until May 1 and now until Nov. 1, 2009.

Start checking your Recovery Audit Contractor's (RAC) website daily. CMS recently approved several issues for RACs to investigate through complex reviews of your patient records and charts. Important: RACs cannot request a patient record from you for a complex review unless CMS approves the issue the RAC is targeting. You'll only know what your RAC can request from you by tracking CMS-approved issues on its website.

My practice requires Medicare patients to complete and sign a five-question secondary payer questionnaire so we can determine if Medicare is primary or secondary. It states that we're required to ask these questions and verify the answers every 30 days. I can't find this form on my carrier's or CMS's website. Are we required to use this form? If so, how often should we update this information?