Legislators are already trying to avert a drastic pay cut for physicians, but whether they'll have a solution before 2010 is still anyone's guess.

With a little planning and patience, you can negotiate preauthorization waivers with your MA plans.

This analysis of MGMA data shows productivity and cost containment separate successful practices from the rest. How does your practice stack up against the best?

According to CMS, your carrier still has some leeway in determining when it will and will not allow 30 day retroactive billing for newly enrolled providers.

This chart compares specialty-specific denial rates from 2005 to those in 2007, listing the major specialties with the highest denial rates. Overall, the reductions in denial rates are greater than the increases; the good news is huge for high-volume specialties like primary care and general surgery. However, the data shows that lower overall utilization played a major role in lower denial rates.

Speed your Medicare enrollment process by following these 5 enrollment tips offered directly by a top CMS official at March 26 public forum. Part B News  attended the conference, sponsored by the American Health Lawyers Association (AHLA), and compiled the following list of tips from Jim Bossenmeyer, CMS's director of provider and supplier enrollment.

CMS has amended a recently released transmittal that would've banned you from using out-of-state banks to receive Medicare payments electronically, reversing long-standing policy. CMS had disallowed out-of-state banks for electronic funds transfer (EFT) deposits in Transmittal 286, released on March 13. The most recent Transmittal 288 was issued as Part B News went to press April 2 and allows out-of-state accounts to be used.

This week's question is answered by John Bishop, senior consultant for DecisionHealth Professional Services.

Q.   We are a primary care practice with a sleep lab. We are trying to determine if the primary care doctor needs an initial consult from a board-certified physician first in order for the sleep test and the continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) to be paid. Is it OK for a primary care physician to order the sleep study as long as he performs the initial assessment (sleep scale, BMI, neck circumference, etc.)? He isn't board-certified. Is it all right if a sleep, board-certified physician reads the actual test?

Looking to buy electronic medical records? You could call a bunch of vendors and schedule site visits. You could enlist a consultant. Or you could buy it at Sam's Club. Wal-Mart Stores is joining with EMR developer eClinicalWorks and computer-maker Dell to sell physician office systems at a discount through its Sam's Club warehouse-club division.

Medical Group Management Association consultants Rosemarie Nelson and Cindy Dunn have identified 10 lessons for those considering electronic health records (EHRs).