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Update on Meaningful Use

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On December 30, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released the long-awaited proposed rule establishing the Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program, which lays out a set of standards, implementation specifications, and certification criteria for EHR technology. This program has been developed in response to the “American Recovery and Reinvestment Act” (ARRA), which authorizes the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to provide a reimbursement incentive for physician and hospital providers who become “meaningful users” of an EHR.

Coding and Billing for Facet Joint Injections

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Billing and coding is not as easy as one might think. The rules are constantly changing—and the codes for facet joint injections, which have changed frequently over the years, are a prime example. To make sure your practice is in compliance, billers, coders, and physicians should remain informed of the correct coding guidelines for facet joint injections. No one in a physician’s practice should ever assume that, because they coded a procedure a certain way in years past, it is still the status quo. Every rheumatologist and his or her staff should understand the what, why, and where of facet joint injections.

Letters to the Editor: In Memoriam

The Rheumatologist  |  

One more prescribing rule [See “Rheuminations,” September 2009, p. 6], honored mainly in the breach, in our overspending climate: don’t prescribe an expensive brand when generics are as good or better, especially Nexium (which I have never prescribed) versus omeprazole, Lipitor versus simvastatin (which now costs the VA three cents a pill), and—for rheumatologists who are writing 80% Uloric—allopurinol except for the 10% who might need Uloric.

I RheumPAC, Do You?

Jim Engelbrecht, MD  |  

For many years, the ACR board of directors and Government Affairs Committee have done exemplary work in keeping members abreast of legislative regulatory issues that affect all aspects of rheumatology, including patient and physician/healthcare professional issues, education, and research. Through advocacy, the ACR advances rheumatology and fosters excellence in the care of people with, or at risk for, arthritis and rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. One might say that advocacy is a cornerstone of this organization.