GroupOne Blog

January 17, 2012 National Provider Call with Question & Answer Session on 2012 Physician Quality Reporting System and Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program; 1:30 - 3:00pm ET.

1. 5010 Compliance Deadline Jan 1, 2012

2. Free iPad 2 promotion thru 12/31/2011

3. Tax Savings from Section 179 by 12/31/2011

4. Def financing on license fees by 12/31/2011

5. $44,000 - $63,750 stimulus payment

6. No down payment required with GroupOne

7. Become a Modern and Paper Free Practice in 2012 – New Year’s Resolution

1. 5010 Compliance Deadline Jan 1, 2012

Any electronic claims or bills which are electronically submitted after Jan 1, 2012, that are not in HIPAA 5010 will get rejected.

A panel of ICD-10 experts spoke last week at a conference co-hosted by the New England Health Information and Management Systems Society and Maine Healthcare Financial Management Association in South Portland, Maine, giving advice about the five ‘gotchas’ that can wreak havoc on the best-laid plans for implementing the new coding system.

Janet Sayers, HIM/compliance manager at Applied Management Systems, Andrew Adams, senior manager at Ernst & Young and Dan Roy, ICD-10 project manager at MaineGeneral Health warned against these five potential pitfalls:

"It's not a good idea to get too comfortable with the extension," according to industry experts.

Even with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) recently announced 90-day discretionary enforcement period (March 21 versus Jan. 1) for physicians to transition to HIPAA Version 5010 for claims transmission, physician practices must stay on task, making a "good faith effort" toward on-time compliance.

According to a report released by the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, almost every state is cutting costs related to Medicaid.  Many states are implementing cost-cutting initiatives, such as restricting Medicaid benefits, implementing new and higher copayments for beneficiaries, and/or enacting provider rate restrictions. In fact, since July 1, 2010, 22 states have already slashed physician pay rates.

All physicians, health care providers, clearinghouses, and payers that submit medical claims and HIPAA transactions will be required to use only the 5010 format as of January 1, 2012.  Noncompliance will mean interruptions in cash flow. 

By:  Justine Cadet

CMS is Holding a Second Webinar on the CQMs and the EHR Incentive Programs for Small-Practice Providers

Overview

Several GroupOne Health Source employees recently attended the 2011 eClinicalWorks National Users Conference in Phoenix, AZ.  During its 2011 National Users Conference, eClinicalWorks unveiled four new and exciting product initiatives designed to further enhance medical practices and change the EHR industry.  When combined with the already impressive assortment of product features like Patient Portal, eClinicalMobile, and eClinicalMessenger, eClinicalWorks continues to improve upon its industry leading EHR solution.

The Deadline to Request a Hardship Exemption for the eRx Incentive Program is November 1, 2011

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) would like to remind eligible professionals and group practices that the deadline to request a hardship exemption for the 2012 Medicare Electronic Prescribing (eRx) Incentive Program adjustment is November 1, 2011.