You'll now have a two-year window to train and prepare your physicians and staff for the ICD-10 transition. Start to plan today how you'll use this time to educate employees to be prepared when the transition hits. The two-year window comes as a result of CMS's ICD-9-CM Coordination and Maintenance Committee decision that it will partially freeze the ICD-9-CM and ICD-10-CM and ICD-10-PCS code sets.

The start date for external testing of version 5010 for external testing between payers and providers is quickly approaching. A few insurers, such as BlueCross/BlueShield of North Carolina, are currently ready for 5010 external testing on Jan. 1, but most payers are not, experts say.

Summary: These charts compare a specialty's average payment per service to its total annual Medicare payment for 2008 and 2009. NOTE: Average payments per service were calculated by dividing total Medicare revenue by the number of successfully paid services. These 10 specialties were chosen because they had very high annual Medicare utilization in 2009, ranging from nearly 44 million claims billed annually (infectious disease) to nearly 328 million claims (hematology/oncology).

The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) for Health Information Technology (HIT) reports the Drummond Group has certified nine electronic health record (EHR) products and the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT) has certified 54 products.

Fast improvements in the technology driving electronic health record (EHR) systems spurred by Medicare and Medicaid incentive programs are making it easier for you to use EHR systems efficiently and profitably, says David Blumenthal, MD, CMS's national coordinator for health information technology.

You're probably familiar with "high deductible health plans" (HDHPs), sometimes also known as "consumer-driven health plans." They're hot insurance products, so if you haven't heard of them yet, you're likely to soon. Make sure you know how to collect when you are entitled to payment under these plans.

As times continue to be tight, you must identify and plug revenue leaks, experts say. You have the same major potential sources of recoverable revenue regardless of practice size, says Ron Rosenberg, CEO of the Practice Management Resource Group in Tinley Park, Ill. While there are many ways you can lose earned revenue, they generally fall into these three categories.

Use physician office billing data from CMS to determine which preventive services are frequently done for the patients in your billing locality and the average amount your peers charge in your area. CMS has updated its Physician Payment Information for Value Driven Health Care files.

Anyone who thinks it's an absolute certainty that Congress will step in and stop the pay cuts coming this December and January is "smoking funny weed," Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) president William Jessee, MD, said at a media lunch during the group's recent conference in New Orleans. You've been on a roller coaster of payment cuts, freezes and minor increases for years, with Congress stepping in at the last minute to save the day. But this time around, a disenfranchised electorate, poor economic conditions and a $330 billion cost makes the fix less certain, Jessee believes.