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In
this Issue:
Medicare
releases temporary conversion factors
As a
result of legislative action temporarily delaying the 21.2 percent payment
cut, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced in an
educational
article that the Medicare conversion factor is frozen at $36.0846 until
the end of February. In addition, the national anesthesia conversion factor
for this same time period is $20.925. This legislation addresses only the
conversion factor; all other 2010 policy changes to the Medicare program,
including the elimination
of consultation codes, became effective on Jan. 1. MGMA has released a
members-only analysis
of the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.
As
previously noted in the Dec.
30 MGMA Washington Connexion, CMS will hold all Part B claims until
Jan. 15, and the Physician Annual Participation Enrollment Program was
extended from Jan. 31 to March 17. Additionally, CMS has published
educational articles pertaining to the Expiration
of Various Payment Provisions Under the Medicare Program and the 2010
Annual Participation Enrollment Program Extension.
Tell
MGMA about your PQRI experiences
The
Legislative and Executive Advocacy Response Network (LEARN) is again conducting
research on MGMA members' experiences with the Physician Quality Reporting
Initiative (PQRI). Over the last few months, many members of Congress and
administration officials have indicated their intent to make the PQRI a
permanent, mandatory program. In addition, there have been legislative
attempts to make failure to successfully participate in the PQRI punitive
in the future.
Your
participation in this research is essential, regardless of whether your
practice has successfully participated in one or more of the PQRI reporting
periods. To have the most recent information available for MGMA's advocacy
efforts, please
participate now. This questionnaire should take fewer than 15 minutes
to complete.
Qualifying
for $44,000 Medicare EHR incentive will prove challenging
The
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released a proposed
regulation defining the requirements eligible professionals must meet to be
considered "meaningful users" of an electronic health record
(EHR) system. Eligible professionals who are “meaningful users” of an EHR
can be reimbursed for up to $44,000 for adopting a “certified” system under
the Medicare incentive program and up to $63,750 under the Medicaid
program. Medicare penalties begin in 2015 for those who are not meaningful
EHR users. Since the first incentive payments will be available in 2011, a
large number of medical groups are expected to begin the transition to EHRs
in 2010.
The CMS
proposed rule outlines 25 objectives and corresponding measures that
practices would be required to meet to qualify for the incentives.
The proposed rule requires practices to:
- Use
computerized provider order entry (CPOE) for at least 80 percent of
all orders
- Provide
patients with an electronic copy of their medical record within 48
hours of a request
- Incorporate
at least 50 percent of all clinical lab tests in a structured
(electronic) format
- Implement
five clinical decision support rules relevant to the provider’s
medical specialty
- Provide
clinical summaries to patients for at least 80 percent of all office
visits
- Perform
medication reconciliation for at least 80 percent of relevant
encounters and transitions of care
- Provide a
summary- of- care record for at least 80 percent of transitions of
care and referrals
- Provide
timely access to health information through a Web-based patient portal
for at least 10 percent of all unique patients
MGMA has
developed a comprehensive three-part Webinar
series with both government and industry expert faculty to help members
understand the specifics of the incentive program and how to select and
implement an EHR that best meets their organizations' clinical and
administrative requirements.
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