On October 14, 2016, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released its final rule implementing the new Quality Payment Program for physicians in lieu of the repealed sustainable growth rate factor (SGR). Rather than facing substantial annual reductions in Medicare payment fees as a result of the SGR, physicians now have two interrelated pathways to earn quality-based, cost efficient incentive payments under Medicare:  the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) or Advanced Alternative Payment Models (Advanced APMs). MIPS consolidates three existing quality-based incentives programs – the Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS), the Physician Value-based Payment Modifier (VM), and the Medicare Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Program – while maintaining an ongoing focus on achieving quality and cost efficiencies through use of certified EHR technology (CEHRT).
Continue Reading CMS publishes Final MACRA Rule for MIPS and APM Incentives

CMS proposed rule details Medicare’s new physician “Quality Payment Program”

Reporting under new measures slated to begin in 2017

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the federal agency responsible for Medicare payment to physicians, released a proposed rule on April 27, 2016, setting forth key provisions of its Quality Payment Program for physicians, implementing key provisions in the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act of 2015 (MACRA). MACRA repealed the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) formula for annually adjusting Medicare payment to the nation’s physicians, replacing the SGR with a value-based payment system to be developed by CMS consistent with MACRA’s directives. The proposed rule has been published in the May 9, 2016 Federal Register. Comments are due by June 27, 2016.Continue Reading MACRA on the Move!

HIPAA AND FEES FOR MEDICAL RECORDS – Updated OCR guidance sets limits.

Physicians and other HIPAA covered entity providers are familiar with HIPAA’s rule on fees that may be charged when individuals request copies of their medical records. The federal Office of Civil Rights (OCR), the enforcement agency for the HIPAA Privacy Rule, recently released updated guidance directives on when fees may be imposed and limitations on costs that may be included in assessing such fees. Medical practices, especially those with separate HIPAA and non-HIPAA medical record fee schedules, may be surprised at what the OCR is now saying.Continue Reading HIPAA and Fees For Medical Records

Apple Watch at Brick Gentry P.C.
Apple Watch at Brick Gentry P.C.

Apple Watch, HIPAA, and Mobile Healthcare Industry.

When one of our more tech savvy partners recently showed us his new Apple Watch, it instinctively raised questions as to how would HIPAA regulate its use. One possible answer is that the features of this new Apple Watch may be the linchpin to a whole new culture in the mobile health industry.Continue Reading Peeling Back the Apple Watch

MEDICARE EHR MEANINGFUL USE PENALTY NOTICES ON THEIR WAY TO 257,000

On December 21, the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) began issuing letters to physicians and other health professionals eligible to participate in the Medicare EHR Incentive Program notifying them of a 1% Medicare payment penalty they will incur in 2015 for

Electronic Health Records will change the practice of medicine.  Physicians, hospitals, medical groups are all in the process of converting to the electronic health record.  Currently, nearly $4.5 billion in federal incentives have helped move this conversion forward.  Over the final three months of 2011, EHR incentive payments from the federal government doubled.  In