Are Your Ears Still Ringing From Reminder Phone Calls?

ADAMS, which stands for Automatic Dialing Appointment Reminder System, is an exceptionally easy-to-use calling solution. Click Here to learn more.

Do you know if your pay cut is going through?

Well, it's April 14th, Medicare was trying to hold off claims until today to see if there would be a mid-month, midnight pass to keep the 21+% pay cut from going through.  Congress did their bit (barely getting the votes to pass the temporary stay) and the senate has still not stepped up yet.

The senate wants to pass a long-term thing to hold off the pay cuts until October.  That is still not very permanent, it just means that when the reduction (probably even bigger than this year's) goes through for next year, that things will still look as gloomy and unresolved.

Medicare Fee Cuts in Action Limbo Again!

As previously encountered and projected, the government managed to leave Washington D.C. without fixing, extending, or repealing the 21.5% Medicare pay cut to physicians.  amednews.com is saying that Medicare is again delaying claims processing, hoping for an intercession until April 14.  They also mention that President Obama is trying to fill a CMS administrator position that has been vacant since 2006, in an effort to keep better tabs on things like this in the future.

Happy Doctors' Day! We at Genius Solutions Salute You.

We hope that someone has sent a red carnation to you, as it is the symbolic flower for National Doctor's Day. 

National Doctors' Day is March 30th.  According to the web site, http://www.doctorsday.org/, it was first observed in Winder, Georgia, in 1933.  Eudora Brown Almond, wife of Dr. Charles B. Almond, set aside a day to honor physicians; greeting cards were sent and flowers were placed on the graves of deceased doctors.

Doctors' Day was adopted by the United States House of Representatives, on March 30, 1958, and legislation was introduced and passed in the House and Senate in 1990 to officially establish a national Doctor's Day. On October 30, 1990, President George Bush signed S.J. RES. #366 (which became Public Law 101-473) officially and lawfully designating March 30th as "National Doctor's Day."

Keep up the good work!  Most of us wouldn’t be happy or healthy without you.

E-Prescribing of Controlled Substances

Electronic Prescribing of Controlled Substances Interim Final Rule was posted yesterday (3/24/10) by the Office of the Federal Register, with a request for comments listed from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Department of Justice. The Interim Final Rule for the e-prescribing of controlled substances is expected to be published in the Federal Register on Wednesday, March 31 and will include a 60 day comment period.  To view the Interim Final Rules go to:  http://www.federalregister.gov/inspection.aspx#spec_D

Go Green with Genius and GreenFlag

 

Click Here for more information on how to work your AR better.

We have a Winner, Chicago Conference Follow-up

Yeah!  We have our Acer Netbook winner from the Chicago, Midwest Podiatry Conference:

Brennan Reed, DPM, of Quincy, IL.  Congratulations Dr. Reed!

The Chicago travel team (May, Ray, and April) just wanted me to put a few words in to the blog to let you know how much they enjoyed meeting so many of you at the show.  They are already fighting to see who gets to take the road trip next year.

As far as our new EHR, it is currently a work-in-progress, but we were ecstatic to let you try out what we have and hear your reactions to it. Your feedback to us, was that the new THOMAS podiatry touch screen EHR, looked great and was different from anything that you had seen. You made the programmers blush.  They are back to slaving away on it with double enthusiasm knowing that you like it.  So, expect even better things at the next show.

*Also, special thanks to April for snapping these photos in Chicago.

HIT Hard, Across the Web

Well, the comment period is over, the interim EHR rules and regs for use go into effect today.  I wanted to just take a walk across the web to see what the general thoughts were across the web on HIT, ARRA, EHR incentives and adoption, current and foreseeable problems, etc.  Here is a hit list of topics and quotes across the board (with attached links to the articles if you want to peruse any of the topics in a more in depth manner).

There's Still Time to Comment, Until March 15th

There is still time to add your voice and make any comments you would like, regarding the proposed Medicare & Medicare rules going into effect for the HITECH/ARRA incentives.  This would include the definition of meaningful use for EHRs, as well as the  other requirements for qualifying for the ARRA incentive payments.  The comment period for the proposed "interim" rules closes on March 15, 2010.  CMS says that they welcome your comments.

Comments may be submitted through http://www.regulations.gov. For additional information on the proposed rule,  as well as fact sheets summarizing the material, visit http://www.cms.hhs.gov/Recovery/11_HealthIT.asp on the Web.

Last Minute Stay of Execution for Medicare Rate Reduction

Last night it was announced that Congress's proposed stay of execution for the 21% Medicare rate reductions had passed.  This freezes the reimbursements rates at the 2009 levels.  As expected, they did make it retro-active back to March 1st.  So you will probably want to get those claims in A.S.A.P.  Unfortunately, it still isn't a permanent fix, it is a hold through March 31st, to give the government a bit more time to create a permanent resolve.

PR Newswire service is listing a report from Sermo, one of the world's largest online communities of physicians.  They polled nearly 1500 physicians, 84% of whose respondents said that they would have to stop accepting new Medicare patients and would likely have to drop their Medicare patients if a reasonable, permanent fix was not made for physician reimbursement.

Write your congressmen and senators!  Keep the pressure on them. Now is definitely the time.

Preliminary Proposed Rule for HIT Certification Programs is on the Table Now

We reported to you back in January that the first round of official documentation was out for “Meaningful Use” and “Certified” EHRs definitions.  Well, the 60-day comment period is over and the final interim rule has been issued.  National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, Dr.David Blumenthal, announced yesterday afternoon that the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) officially released a notice of proposed rule-making (NPRM) outlining the proposed approach for establishing a certification program to test and certify electronic health records (EHRs).

21.5% Medicare Paycut Goes in to Effect Today

Apparently before recessing on Friday, congress failed to pass any new legislation or extensions to stop the 21.5% pay cut that goes in to effect today, March 1.


You may remember that congress passed a measure last December postponing the cut until March 1. The House then passed a bill on Feb. 18 providing another temporary stay until March 31, but the Senate was unable to approve the measure before adjourning for the weekend on Feb. 26, thus the cut goes into effect today with no last minute reprieve.