If you’ve not heard, physicians are potentially facing a 21.2% CMS fee schedule reduction. This decrease was already delayed, and is set to occur on April 1, 2010. The good news is, the House approved yet another delay in this reduction that would move the effective date to May 1, 2010. The bad news is that unfortunately Congress just recessed for 2 weeks without passing the bill that would in fact extend the decrease.
In response to this failure to take action (by Congress), the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced a 10 business day freeze on physician Medicare claims starting April 1, 2010, anticipating that Senate Democrats will extend the date for the fee cuts when they return on April 12.
You can read more on this topic on the AMA Web site:
Read the AMA’s statement
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Geoff Lusty
Vice President - HST
Historically, adopting health information technology (HIT) has been a challenge for small group physician practices – those with 10 or fewer doctors. Cost and complexity have been formidable barriers to small practices, particularly for their small business owners who already operate on thin margins. Perhaps what physicians have feared the most when considering HIT implementation is the potential of disrupting the operations of the practice and, ultimately, the impact on patient care.