Do you know what the practice is worth? This will be important to find out, as valuations are becoming increasingly warranted for numerous reasons, such as facilitating hospital acquisitions; determining merger and acquisition and buy-in and/or buy-out equity; and complying to regulations relating to Stark laws, anti-kickback statutes, and IRS regulations.

There is an ongoing disconnect among the doctor, the health plan, other caregiv¬ers, and the hospital. Any element of connectivity that moves actionable data among these key stakeholders is a step toward helping physicians manage care better.

This week's question is answered by Sean Weiss CPC, vice president of DecisionHealth Professional Services.

Q: None of our doctors participate but they all see some Medicare patients. Is it all right for us to give the patient form CMS-1490 and tell them to submit the claim or do we have to use the CMS-1500 and submit the claim?

The latest Medicare trustees report spells doom and gloom for the Medicare program in less than 10 years unless major action is taken. The Medicare trust fund will be exhausted by 2017, two years earlier than projected in last year's report (PBN 3/31/08).

This month's question is answered by Sean Weiss CPC, vice president of DecisionHealth Professional Services. 

Q.  Can we bill incident-to when a Nurse Practitioner is the "supervising provider" in the office? For example, can a PA bill under an NP's number?

This chart gives an estimate of the number of services billed to Medicare by each individual NPP, per specialty. NPP specialties with less than 30,000 individuals enrolled in Medicare were excluded from analysis. Every single physical therapist bills nearly four times the number of services that the next highest NPP specialty does.

Using non-physician practitioners (NPPs) effectively will allow your practice to treat more patients and ultimately bring in more revenue (NPP Report 12/22/08). Also, advanced practice nurses (APNs) and physician assistants can fill unique voids for less overhead (NPP Report 3/30/09).

A CMS rule tightening supervision requirements for outpatient therapeutic services does not apply to physical therapy services, NPP Report has learned.

A recent promise by health industry leaders to support President Obama's goal of reducing health spending by $2 trillion over the next decade may be more about political showmanship than a commitment to change, experts tell Part B News.

This chart shows the breakdown of how nonclinical full-time equivalent (FTE) staff spent their time, with an emphasis on billing and reimbursement.