Read more at www.rand.org/news/press/2012/03/20.html

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Transmittal 1058, Change Request (CR) 7767 confirms a zero percent update for payments under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) through year’s end.

Medicare payments were slated for a 27.4 percent cut as of Jan. 1, 2012. Congress acted on Dec. 23, 2011 to forestall the cuts for the first two months of 2012; and on Feb. 22, President Obama signed into law the Middle Class Tax Relief and Job Creation Act of 2012 (MCTRJCA), extending the zero percent update through Dec. 31, 2012.

Also included in the MCTRJCA are extensions to:

1. the moratorium that allows certain pathologists and independent laboratories to bill for the technical component (TC) of physician pathology services furnished to hospital patients through June 30, 2012;
2. the exceptions process for Medicare therapy caps; and
3. the continuation of the Medicare physician work geographic adjustment floor.

The MCTRJCA discontinues the minimum payment for bone mass measurement, as well as MPFS mental health 5 percent add-on payments.

Almost every year for a decade, Medicare expenditures have surpassed targets and the sustainable growth rate (SGR) used to determine Medicare payments has called for substantial cuts. Since 2003, Congress has intervened to prevent these SGR-mandated reductions. The deferments do not abolish the SGR, but only allow mandated payment cuts to accumulate. Without an SGR fix, expected reductions will top 30 percent in 2013.

The Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of  Health & Human Services (HHS) submitted, March 24,  ”Modifications to the HIPAA Privacy, Security Enforcement and Breach Notification Rules” as a final rule to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The new rules will enforce more stringent privacy regulations outlined in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.

The rule officiates regulations in the Health Information Technology for Economic and Health (HITECH) Act, most of which were implemented in 2009 through last year; however, this final rule contains more specific regulations, and the OMB review is the final review before laws take effect.

According to ModernHealthcare.com, the new rule creates regulation governing the use of patient information for marketing and contains a stimulus law prohibiting the sale of patient data without patient authorization. The rule also defines a “harm standard”  for breach notification, and provides means to enforce business associate agreements with vendors, especially outside health information technology providers.

http://www.beckershospitalreview.com/news-analysis/f-o-c-u-s-5-key-factors-of-anesthesia-success.html

Howard Greenfield, MD, and Robert Stiefel, MD, principals of anesthesia and perioperative consulting firm Enhance Healthcare, discussed the benefits and challenges of a co-managed anesthesia model as an alternative to outsourcing anesthesia services in a recent webinar presented by Becker's Hospital Review.

In the webinar, titled "Anesthesia Contract Costs Have You Sweating? Stay Cool With a New FOCUS on Anesthesia Employment," Drs. Greenfield and Stiefel presented a new framework hospitals can use when thinking about anesthesia services. The framework they described uses the acronym FOCUS. The approach outlines five key factors affecting the success of operating room performance and how anesthesia plays a significant role. The FOCUS areas are financial, operational, clinical quality, utilization and strategic integration. This model can help hospitals predict the value of employing an anesthesia group in light of health reform legislation that is pushing the industry toward increased quality and efficiency and reduced costs.

Download a copy of the presentation by clicking here (pdf).

The HHS has announced it's intent to delay the implementation of ICD-10 in October 2013.  The new effective day has yet to be announced.  Preparing for Version 5010 and ICD-10, will take time.  Preparation will include potential updated software installation, staff training, changes to business operations and workflows, internal and external testing, reprinting of manuals and other materials.  Even though the new effective date of it's use has not yet been released, this is a great opportunity to continue building your strategy for your practice, and move forward to the ICD-10 transition.  After all, it is probably not going away, but just delayed for a bit.