Legal

President Barack Obama is including increased funding toward medical school programs for internal medicine, pediatrics, and family medicine in his 2015 budget proposal. But Medicare plans to cut payments to practicing physicians.

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently announced changes to stage 2 and stage 3 of the Meaningful Use (MU) program designed to ease the burden on physicians already coping with many regulatory burdens.

Analysis of data at one of the nation's largest Patient-centered Medical Home pilots finds limited improvements in costs and patient outcomes.

CMS says reductions will average 1.9%; insurance companies say cuts will be much larger

The “hyper-politicized debate” about healthcare reform needs to shift to a thoughtful dialogue about evidence and data, according to former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, in addressing thousands of HIT professionals at the HIMSS 2014 conference in Orlando, Florida.

There will be no more delays to the October 1 deadline to implement the ICD-10 coding system.That was the message from CMS Administrator Marilyn Tavenner during Thursday’s keynote presentation to the HIMSS 2014 Annual Conference and Exhibition in Orlando, Florida.

A reader says that the MOC certification process is unnecessary and overpriced.

A reader writes that it is nearly impossible under current reimbursement rates to maintain an independent medical practice.

Understanding the basics of the RVU can assist physicians and practice managers in a wide variety of finance and management-related tasks.

A reader says that maintenance of certification requirements will cause older, experienced doctors to leave medicine.

Many practitioners store, administer, or dispense controlled substances in the office, but they may not be aware of legal requirements concerning the safeguarding and record-keeping of these drugs.

Healthcare professionals should consider whether the benefits of FDA-approved testosterone treatment is likely to exceed the potential risks of treatment.

Hospitals across the United States are merging and purchasing physician practices at a faster clip than they have in decades. While some experts believe the pace of acquisition is not sustainable, the economic forces driving hospital consolidation is also driving up the cost. For employed physicians, that could mean employment trouble. For independent groups, it could signal opportunity.

When hospitals acquire independent medical practices, they will now often reclassify the practice as an outpatient facility. Doing so allows them, under Medicare rules, to add a separate facility charge to a patient’s bill.

The number of young adults enrolling in exchange health plans may be less important than the overall health of all new enrollees.

The debate over the necessity of annual mammograms continues as a recent study suggests that the screenings for breast cancer do not reduce the number of deaths from the disease.

The costs to medical practices for implementing ICD-10 have been grossly underestimated, according to a recent study.

Close to 1.1 million signed up in January, data show

Congress has agreed on legislation to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula. But the changes not only affect physician reimbursements. The proposed legislation also overhauls current incentive programs, establishing the Merit-Based Incentive Payment System.

The vast majority of practices have done nothing to get ready for ICD-10 or are only "somewhat ready."

A reader says that the business pressures of running a medical practice makes it no longer enjoyable.

A reader proposes alternatives to the need to obtain insurance company preapprovals for treatments and procedures.

A reader says that doctors today are under too much scrutiny and have too many requirements placed on them.

A reader writes that the ongoing controversy over maintenance of certification requirements echoes another episode in American medicine a century ago.

Will reimbursement data on individual physicians lead to better healthcare or leave doctors exposed?

Like it or not, ICD-10-CM is coming in October, which means medical practices are going to have to code and document their physicians’ patient encounters with more detail and complexity, or they won’t get paid. To help physicians prepare, we highlight some examples of ICD-10-CM coding in action.

The Sustainable Growth Rate replacement bill passing Congress today would guarantee .5% Medicare reimbursement increases for five years while new payment models are developed and phased in. But medical groups remain cautiously optimistic.

HHS Secretary says additional states will recognize the financial benefits of making Medicaid more accessible to their residents.

More doctors are using electronic health records, but the growth is faster in some states and practice sizes than others.