You and your peers planning to use a registry in 2011 will have 11 new, registry-only measures available. Seven of these are new functional deficit measures, which will affect mainly orthopedic providers, while the other four impact dermatologists, cardiologists and thoracic surgeons.

You have to deal with three new codes for observation services in 2011, and their low pay combined with new CPT rules will result in less money - $14 to $68 less - when your providers initiate observation, experts tell Part B News. Providers who see patients in observation on a consulting basis will be less affected. The new codes are 99224-99226 (subsequent observation care, low, moderate and high severity respectively). Here's a brief rundown on how they fit into CPT 2011 rules for billing observation care.

Q. I am reviewing dictation from one of our specialty physicians for what should be a subsequent inpatient visit. The physician's states that the previous chart was reviewed and he also noted a discussion with the nurse on the patient's progress. There were apparently issues that came up overnight, so he looked at labs and X-rays and took other steps. The physician did not see the patient face-to-face, but planned a visit for the next morning. But when he went to examine the patient, the patient had left. In fact, the notes indicated that the patient kept threatening to leave. Can the doctor bill anything for this?

You will see a strong emphasis on electronic health record (EHR) systems in 2011, when practices with EHRs can begin demonstrating meaningful use for the first round of federal bonus payments, experts and practice managers predict. Medicare provisions in the reform law will also play a major role, boosting revenue for primary care practices, they say.

CMS has set the 2011 conversion factor at $33.9764. The conversion factor was initially set at $25.5217 in the 2011 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule, but was later increased just before Jan. 1 as a result of congressional action in December to stave off cuts to Medicare payment rates.

You have 24 new additions to CMS’s Average Sales Price (ASP) list to start 2011. You’ll also find prices under the ASP plus 6% payment system for the first quarter of the year increased by 0.7% on average, which is the second consecutive increase (PBN 9/27/10).

Your claims won’t be rejected because of enrollment issues with an ordering/referring provider starting Jan. 3 (PBN 11/15/10). CMS has officially backed off the deadline, but has not backed away from the policy.