Marilee K. Phillips, RN, is a little out of breath and losing her voice. She’ll excuse herself several times as we talk to clear her throat, but she won’t ask to reschedule. She doesn’t want to say it, but there’s probably no other time to do this interview. In fact, she managed to squeeze it in just before a nursing meeting she’ll have to race to. In the circus of rheumatology, she’s the juggler.
New ACR Strategic Plan Approved
On May 11, the ACR leadership approved a revised strategic plan for 2007–2009 that will guide the College’s work and determine the path the organization will take. The plan has a direct effect on the way the organization serves its members because ACR committees develop and implement programs and services based on the priorities it outlines.
Profiling Providers: Is Your Practice Ready?
Medicare may start profiling physicians as soon as mid 2008. The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recommended that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) develop a profiling system to identify physicians with inefficient practice patterns. At a House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Health hearing, Herbert Kuhn, acting deputy administrator of the CMS, said that identifying inefficient physicians, or “profiling,” would involve comparing the number of tests ordered by a physician for certain types of patients with the number ordered by colleagues in cases with the same outcome.
Be Aware of New Waived Tests
Keeping current on changes to laboratory certifications for common lab tests can save your practice time—and money. Since the passage of the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments (CLIA) in 1988, all health-assessment laboratory tests are ranked for complexity, and their complexity dictates which labs can process Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS)–reimbursed tests. In accordance with CLIA, each laboratory facility must register with CMS to receive a CLIA certification. There are five certifications, each with differing degrees of complexity, listed from least to most complex: Certificate of Waiver, Certificate of Provider-Performed Microscopy Procedures, Certificate of Registration, Certificate of Compliance, and the Certificate of Accreditation.
ACR Unites with AMA to Correct SGR
Fair Medicare reimbursement is of great concern of physicians today. During the past few years, the SGR has called for damaging cuts to physician payments. Each year, however, Congress has placed a temporary fix on the scheduled cuts.
Coding Corner Question
June’s Coding Challenge
Coding Corner Answer
June’s coding answer
Reimbursement Questions? Contact the RAC
The ACR Regional Advisory Council (RAC) met in March to discuss reimbursement issues affecting rheumatologists in various regions. The RAC was established to assist physicians with reimbursement concerns.
ACR Rheumatology Workforce Study Results Online
Results from the 2005–2006 ACR Rheumatology Workforce Study are now available online, and the state of the workforce—and its future—is clearer than ever. The purpose of the study was to better understand the factors affecting rheumatologist supply and demand.
ARHP Progress Report
The ARHP has made significant progress toward the goals identified in its long range plan for this year, and I would like to share some of these achievements with you.
- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 51
- 52
- 53
- 54
- 55
- …
- 57
- Next Page »