Partisan debate over government-funded health care versus commercial health plans ramped up as the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) chairman testified before a Congressional health committee March 17.

The average sales price (ASP) drug list covered by Part B will receive an overall increase for the second quarter that starts April 1, according to an analysis by Part B News.

Analyze your patient volume and practice performance very carefully before you reduce staff levels in a sinking economy, experts tell Part B News. One small practice interviewed for this story fired 16% of its workforce after a careful analysis. Many practices aren't facing the same level of crisis, so they should avoid "stepping over dollars to pick up dimes," says one practice management expert. Translation? The strategy that's best for your bottom line may not require firing anyone at all.

A staggering onslaught of more than 300,000 changes await you in the latest series of Correct Coding Initiative (CCI) edits issued by CMS. A total of 304,591 edit pairs were added in CCI version 15.1, effective April 1. Only 36 edit pairs were deleted.

This chart shows how primary care utilization of imaging services has changed from 2005 to 2007.

The transmittal updating Medicare's enrollment policy (see story) provides you with four examples illustrating how new rules will be implemented. 

Expect Medicare to crack the whip beginning April 1 on the new, restrictive enrollment policies we've been telling you about (PBN 2/16/09). The biggest impact is that the policy shortens the amount of time you can retroactively bill claims when you are enrolling a provider with Medicare.

The $19 billion in health information technology (HIT) incentives found in the latest economic stimulus bill has wide-support in the medical community, but physicians still want to get more out of their electronic medical record (EMR) systems. Physicians attending a HIT forum sponsored by eHealth Initiative and IBM March 20 said EMR systems need to be more "patient-centered" and allow for an information exchange with other systems to improve quality at the point of care.

Speaking before a packed audience of key healthcare players at the White House, President Obama hammered home the urgent need for health reform this year at a March 5 summit attended by Part B News. "The cost of healthcare now causes a bankruptcy in America every 30 seconds," he began. "The problems we have today are a direct consequence of actions we failed to take yesterday."