HHS Awards $320 Million to Expand Primary Care Workforce
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Sept. 27 the availability of $320 million in grants under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to strengthen the...
View ArticleCommunity Centers Get $335M Federal Boost
Community health centers across the country now have $335 million in federal grants at their disposal to boost access to those in need of primary health care, including dental health, behavioral...
View Article2011 MPFS Final Rule Reduces Pay Rates
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a final rule with comment period Nov. 2, implementing a number of provisions in the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, as...
View ArticleNew Innovation Center, Demonstrations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the establishment of the new Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation (CMMI or Innovation Center). A provision of the Patient...
View ArticleOsteoporosis Screening Recommendation Updated
As many as one in two postmenopausal women in the United States is at risk for an osteoporosis-related fracture. Given that, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) is now recommending routine...
View ArticleStudy: Pay for Performance Doesn’t Improve Quality of Care
In a study published in the British Medical Journal (BMJ), Jan. 25, British researchers found little evidence to support the theory that pay for performance improves quality of care and health...
View ArticleCMS Launches New Primary Care Initiative
Building on the patient-centered medical home concept, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) launched a new initiative Sept. 28, which the agency says will “help primary care...
View ArticleI Take Exception with That!
Understand the Medicare Primary Care Center Exception. By Maryann C. Palmeter, CPC, CENTC The final rule for teaching physician presence and documentation requirements under Medicare Part B has been in...
View ArticleMedicare Covers Screening for Depression
Medicare recently added annual depression screening as a covered preventive service, in accordance with the Affordable Care Act. Effective Oct. 14, 2011, adult Medicare patients may receive depression...
View ArticleGet Your Health Professional Shortage Area Bonus
If you are a physician who furnishes services to Medicare patients in a primary care geographic health professional shortage area (HPSA) as designated by the Health Resources and Services...
View ArticleTherapy Rules for Obesity Updated
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently informed contractors of an ICD-10 code range revision to previously communicated coverage for intensive behavioral therapy (IBT) for...
View ArticlePrimary Care Docs May See Pay Raise
Primary care physicians could receive a pay raise bringing Medicaid primary care service fees in line with those paid by Medicare. The proposed boost would be in effect for calendar years 2013 and...
View ArticleCheck Claims History Before Billing G0443
Among the many new preventive services now covered under Medicare is screening and behavioral counseling interventions in primary care to reduce alcohol misuse. To be reimbursed for providing these...
View ArticlePhysicians Offered Cash for Improved, Coordinated Primary Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Innovation Center has announced a four year pilot initiative to pay primary care practices a care management fee, initially set at an average of...
View ArticlePatients Came Back in Second Quarter
Physicians were busier than they’ve been in a long time in the second quarter of 2012, American Medical News reports, with visits increasing almost 5 percent on average. This reverses a downward trend...
View ArticleStudy Supports Success of ACO Model
A study recently published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) supports the success of the concept of the accountable care organizations (ACOs). Payment incentives implemented...
View ArticleKareo: 6 Key ICD-10 Changes for Primary Care
ICD-10-CM will allow primary care specialists to more accurately depict chronic conditions, as well as other commonly reported diagnoses. Kareo recently interviewed AAPC’s VP of ICD-10 Education and...
View ArticlePrimary Care Faces Drastic Medicaid Cuts
A two-year pay raise for primary care doctors who treat Medicaid patients will expire Dec. 21, 2014. The temporary increase, authorized under the Affordable Care Act, boosted payments for Medicaid...
View ArticleMedical Generalists Save Money, Study Says
A recent study, sponsored by the American Academy of Family Physicians and Robert Graham Center, finds that physicians who provide more varied care do a better job at keeping patients out the hospital,...
View ArticleCuban Healthcare System: A Primary Care Model
The United States could learn from the Cuban healthcare system. Last December, President Barrack Obama announced that it was time — after 50 years of complex policy and politics — to restore diplomatic...
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