Latest Medicare News
Increase in Health IT Spending in the Year Ahead | March 8, 2010
Healthcare providers are looking to increase their IT spending in the next year according to the Annual Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) Leadership survey. New investments in health IT are to meet the government's meaningful use requirements.
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Bill Signed to Delay Medicare Cut | March 4, 2010
On Tuesday March 2, President Obama signed a bill to delay the scheduled Medicare pay cut for one month. The bill also extends COBRA premium subsidies and insurance for the unemployed.
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Jurisdiction 1 WPS Transition | March 1, 2010
On April 19, 2010, healthcare providers processing Part A claims through WPS in the states of California, Nevada, Hawaii, Guam, American Samoa and the Northern Mariana Islands will transition to Palmetto GBA. Providers are required to obtain a new submitter ID from Palmetto GBA to submit claims.
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Healthcare Providers Increase Use of EHR | February 22, 2010
A survey was released finding that healthcare providers implementing electronic health records (EHR) in the past year have increased by 3.2% to 36.1%. The survey found that doctors are adopting components of EHR solutions, but not a complete solution from a single vendor.
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University Receives $12 Million in Stimulus Money for HIT | February 17, 2010
Purdue University, located in Indiana, has been given $12 million in stimulus funding to facilitate the adoption of healthcare IT. Perdue will be establishing regional extension centers which will help educate healthcare providers on the use of electronic medical records and e-prescribing.
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White House Releases $1 billion in HIT Stimulus Money | February 15, 2010
Approximately $1 billion in stimulus money is available now to hospitals and primary-care physicians to implement health information technology (HIT) solutions. In addition, the stimulus money will be used to train thousands of people to help facilitate HIT adoption. Seven-hundred million dollars is to aid hospitals and physicians in adopting electronic health records. Currently in the United States, only 20% of doctors and 10% of hospitals use electronic health records.
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Meaningful Use Criteria | December 30, 2009
HHS posted to their website lists containing "meaningful use" criteria to qualify for funding of information technology projects. Upwards of $27.3 billion has been made available under provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for healthcare provider to implement technology projects.
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House Delays Medicare Doc-Pay Cuts | December 16, 2009
The House of Representatives voted in majority to delay Medicare pay cuts for physicians until March 2010. This vote will prevent the 21% cut to be enacted until after Febrary 2010.
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Strive Force to Combat Medicare Fraud a Success | December 1, 2009
A group put together by the United States government to identify waste in the Medicare system has been successful in uncovering irregularities in Medicare claims submissions. Medicare costs hit approximately $800 billion this past year and somewhere between 3-10% can be attributed to waste, fraud or abuse. Data tracking has been the secret weapon in identifying irregularities. This task force could save the Medicare program approximately $2.7 billion over the next five years according to the Justice Department and HHS officials. Since the investigations started, 130 cases have been filed and more than 300 people have been charged.
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Technology Remedy for Ailing Healthcare System | November 12, 2009
A recent poll of healthcare providers indicates that as the country moves through healthcare reform and defining “meaningful use,” providers plan to make better use of healthcare information technology when it comes to their everyday practices.
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Federal Government Will Use Technology to Target Medicare Waste and Fraud | November 11, 2009
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) is working on a data warehouse to store all claims and payment data created by all of the federal health programs. This repository will allow the government to analyze data to pinpoint irregularities and trends. This new system will support the current Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs) which monitor jurisdictions, similar to the Medicare Administrative Contractor jurisdictions, for fraudulent or abusive behavior against the Medicare program.
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HIT is Critical Part of Health Bill HR 3962 | November 9, 2009
With the House passing the health bill HR 3962 Saturday, November 7, the bill now goes to the Senate. Healthcare information technology (HIT) will play a critical part in this bill, which includes language that standardizes the HIPAA transaction sets for claims and related transactions, and the adoption of operating rules that are proposed to make financial and administrative transactions easier to conduct. For more information on HIT, HIPAA and their role in reform, see attached article. Also attached is a ten-page summary of HR 3962, and a more detailed summary (61 pages) which provides a section by section analysis.
CMS Proposes Changes to Physician Quality Reporting | November 5, 2009
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) proposed adding measures to the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) to report by group practice rather than individual physician and functionality for EHR-based reporting. PQRI is a voluntary program that provides incentives for reporting data on certain quality measures for services provided under Medicare Part B. CMS is looking to simplify the reporting process to increase adoption. In 2010, participants may earn an incentive payment of 2% of total charges for Medicare Part B covered services.
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U.S. Healthcare System Wastes Up To $800 Billion a Year | October 27, 2009
A report from Thompson Reuters announced that upwards of $800 billion is wasted in the U.S. healthcare system a year. The key findings stated that unnecessary care (40%), fraud (19%) and administrative inefficiency (17%) were the leading causes wasteful spending.
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Fighting Medicare Fraud | October 23, 2009
Federal authorities have charged 20 people in California and Las Vegas with Medicare fraud. Upwards of $26 million in either unneeded or undelivered durable medical equipment claims were filed. What used to be a white color crime has now found its way into gang activity. Currently Medicare fraud costs the nation an estimated $60 billion a year.
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Medicare Cuts Keep Doctors From Investing In EHR | October 16, 2009
As doctors are faced with the threat of Medicare reimbursement cuts, they may resist investing into electronic health records. CEO of the Medical Group Management Association, Willian F. Jessee, reiterated at a news conference at the annual MGMA convention that physicians face a 21.5% cut in Medicare payments on January 1 under the government's sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula.
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$404 Billion To Be Cut From Medicare, Medicaid | October 15, 2009
Healthcare bill presented by the U.S. Senate Finance Committee was reviewed by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office. The bill states it would cut $404 Billion in Medicare and Medicaid funding. U.S. Rep. Elton Gallegly said "This bill will hurt seniors by limiting access, increasing costs and by lowering health care efficiencies. Medicare needs to be reformed, not gutted."
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