Specialties that bill the most allergy test codes to Medicare saw a sharp, across-the-board increase in denials from 2007 to 2008. Several also saw large increases in utilization of these allergy codes, which are among the most commonly billed. NOTE: These specialties were selected for billing the most allergy codes to Medicare; these codes were selected for having the highest annual utilization.

CMS finally may get a permanent boss: Donald Berwick, a Harvard health policy professor and former pediatrician, is expected to be President Obama's choice to helm the agency. The White House has yet to make a formal announcement, but a wide array of news outlets have reported that Berwick is the president's pick.

You'll see almost as many price decreases as price increases for Part B drugs you bill in your office beginning in the second quarter of 2010 under CMS's Average Sales Price (ASP), plus 6% payment system, according to an exclusive Part B News analysis.

You won't have to worry about the new GX modifier, which CMS intends for use with Part A claims when a voluntary advance beneficiary notice of non-coverage (ABN) form is issued to patients, an agency official says.

PPACA mandates HHS develop new standards for filing and receiving claims, many of which medical societies such as the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) have suggested for years. You won't see the entire law implemented immediately, but HHS will develop and finalize rules for "administrative simplification" provisions over the next six years, according to the law.

Having your physicians dictate notes into a computer could reduce costs while improving the accuracy and speed of your claims processing, according to your peers who've adopted the technology. A five-physician specialty practice in Seattle tells how they switched from using a human transcriptionist to voice recognition software in 2005.

You'll see a retroactive payment increase averaging between roughly 1% and 3% if you practice in one of more than 50 localities affected by a geographic price cost index (GPCIs) adjustment in the health care reform bill. The Patient Protection and Affordability Act (PPACA) retroactively restores the minimum work GPCI factor of 1.000 to the Medicare payment formula. The floor expired Jan. 1, so providers in 54 geographic areas experienced decreases in payment because their work GPCI dropped below 1.000.

The passage of historic, controversial health reform legislation and its costs have complicated the temporary payment fix you and your peers have come to expect from Congress every year, experts tell Part B News. The highly partisan debate over reform and its costs are largely responsible for just a one-month pay fix and the need for immediate action again to stave off the 21% cut mandated by the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula, a health care industry expert says.