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The new service was one of myriad Medicare payment changes finalized in the annual regulation announcing program rates for the next year. As required by statute, the fee schedule includes an across-the-board sustainable growth rate cut to physician pay, a reduction that federal officials calculated at 26.5%. Congress has prevented similar SGR cuts for several years, but new legislation must be approved by a lame-duck Congress before January 1, 2013, to stop the latest reduction.

The fee schedule includes other rate cuts to some physicians, such as lower payments for multiple advanced imaging scans and penalties for not submitting quality measurements to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. But CMS also finalized additional hardship exemptions the doctors can use to prevent pay reductions for not reporting electronic prescribing activity, and it further limited the number of physicians who will have their rates adjusted according to quality and cost scores by a value-based payment modifier in 2015.

Now, more than ever, it is vital that physicians unite, step up and get involved. Otherwise someone else is going to make decisions for you. Don't let that happen!    

RENEW your MCMS Membership TODAY!! 

Pay over the phone by calling 602-252-2015.  

Mail your statement and check to: Maricopa County Medical Society, 326 E. Coronado Rd., Phoenix, AZ 85004.   

This article appears in the September 2012 issue of Managed Contracting & Reimbursement Advisor Staff.

Encounter forms, charge tickets, note cards... when it comes to physician documentation of professional charge information for reimbursement, putting pen to paper (maybe even a napkin) is still a heavily relied upon ­approach. Despite software advances, high physician adoption of automated processes remains elusive for many practices, and it's costing them money.

Nearly every healthcare professional implicitly ­understands that eliminating paper from the care delivery process is the right thing to do, says Ryan Secan, MD, chief medical officer of MedAptus, a consulting and technology company based in Boston. And electronic medical records are becoming increasingly commonplace, streamlining clinical work flow. The problem is that the tools aren't often optimized to support a typical practice's variety of charge coding and reconciliation needs, Secan says. So for practices contending with paper at different stops along the revenue cycle continuum, the drag on efficiency is significant, affecting physicians, the business office, and ultimately the bottom line.

A physician's decision not to report Medicare quality measures or participate in paperless prescribing and health record programs in 2013 will be a costly one in the long run.

The programs have been voluntary for the past several years. However, federal laws require Medicare rates eventually to be reduced for physicians who do not participate in the physician quality reporting system as well as the electronic health records and e-prescribing incentive programs. The reason why 2013 is such a critical year for doctors is that Medicare officials are using it as a benchmark for future penalties in all of these programs.

The American Academy of Family Physicians estimates that participating in these initiatives next year could save a physician $19,000 in avoided penalties. Successfully reporting quality measures and achieving meaningful use of an EHR in 2013 will prevent a doctor's Medicare rates from being reduced by 3.5% in 2015 for noncompliance.

High school students interested in pursuing healthcare careers can look forward to a full slate of special programs offered by Midwestern University in 2013 in partnership with the BHHS Legacy Foundation.

Beginning on February 6 with the Arizona Regional Brain Bee, Midwestern University will then host its annual Health Sciences Career Day on February 28. The capstone event, the 8-day Health Careers Institute for High School Students, takes place from July 11-20.