News from the Feds: Last-Minute MPFS Change & Proposed HITECH Rule

We’ve got the links you need to keep up with these bottom-line changers from HHS, CMS. While most of us were celebrating the last few days the Old Year and preparing to welcome the New Year, the federal regulators had one last, little rulemaking frenzy for 2009. The result is a 555-page proposed rule implementing the [...] Related articles:

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We’ve got the links you need to keep up with these bottom-line changers from HHS, CMS.

While most of us were celebrating the last few days the Old Year and preparing to welcome the New Year, the federal regulators had one last, little rulemaking frenzy for 2009. The result is a 555-page proposed rule implementing the HITECH portion of the ‘ARRA’ stimulus bill, as well as a last-minute change to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

Why you should care about the proposed HITECH rule: Remember ARRA, that economic stimulus bill Congress passed last February? In the mammoth bill is the HITECH Act, which mandates a $44,000-per-physician incentive for practices that adopt electronic medical records early. To obtain the incentive, practices must meet certain criteria, which the feds have outlined in this 555-page proposed rule published December 30th.

Not exactly light reading, so if you want a quick fact sheet, go here and stayed tuned to Coding News for alerts to the important stuff you need to know. Example: We’ll let you know the minute we figure out exactly what the feds mean by “meaningful use.”

The public has 60 days to comment on the proposed rule before federal regulators go back to the drawing board to finalize it.

The Medicare Physician Fee Schedule News: CMS made some last minute changes to the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Database for 2010. ”Over the Christmas holiday, Congress froze the conversion factor at the 2009 rate ($36.0666) until Feb. 28,” explains Part B Insider sage Torrey Kim. “As of March 1, it will supposedly go down to the proposed 2010 rate, but I’m sure there will be another vote blocking it by then.” You can read all about it in this issue of MLN Matters and access the revised fee schedule here. (Click ‘2010′ and download the schedule that comes up.)

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