Medicare updates
June 30, 2011‘Fast Facts’ spotlight key Medicare issues
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is now posting a series of “Fast Facts” on its Medicare Learning Network® (MLN) Provider Compliance Web page to offer simple answers to common questions on Medicare’s often complex rules and regulations.
The first briefly explains Medicare requirements regarding signatures on physician orders. Additional Fast Facts features will be posted each month, according the CMS.
The CMS Provider Compliance Web page offers educational materials to help Medicare fee-for-service (FFS) practitioners understand – and avoid – common billing errors and other improper activities identified through Medicare claim review programs.
“You can now review quick tips on relevant provider compliance issues and corrective actions directly from this Web page,” CMS noted last month in its regular e-mail update of MLN materials.
Health care practitioners can review quick tips on relevant provider compliance issues and corrective actions.
The CMS encourages practitioners to “bookmark” the Web page and check back often for new information (www.cms.gov/MLNProducts/45_ProviderCompliance.asp).
CMS outlines Medicare EHR incentive payment process
The “Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Payment Process,” a new Medicare Learning Network Matters article, explains the basics of the federal health information technology incentive program, according to the U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).
The article explains who is eligible for incentives under the program, how payments will be calculated, how and when practitioners will receive payments, and how practitioners can obtain additional information.
The article can be accessed on CMS Web site at http://tinyurl.com/MLNSE1111 or the AOA Web site EHR page (www.aoa.org/EHR).
Revised Medicare E&M guide now available
The Medicare Evaluation and Management Services Guide, as revised in December 2010, is now available in print format from the Medicare Learning Network®. This guide is designed to provide education on medical record documentation and evaluation and management billing and coding considerations. The 1995 Documentation Guidelines for Evaluation and Management Services and the 1997 Documentation Guidelines for Evaluation and Management Services are included in this publication. To order, visit the CMS Web site Medicare Learning Network page (www.cms.gov/MLNGenInfo).
