The Doc Fix
The US Senate has recessed without taking up the Doc Fix
nWe were so close to finally doing away with the SGR (Sustainable Growth Rate) calculation which has held good medical care hostage year after year. The House of Representatives sent through a bi-partisan bill to the Senate, the President was ready to sign, and the Senate dropped the ball.nnConsequently, the 21% cut in reimbursement is set to take affect April 1, 2015. We encourage you to exercise your right to make your representatives in Washington aware of your contempt.
The proposed permanent fix to the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula may bring big changes to interoperability.nnRep. Michael Burgess (R-Tex.) has introduced H.R. 1470 to repeal and replace the Sustainable Growth Rate formula that Medicare uses to pay physicians. The bill as introduced does not include language to change policy on the ICD-10 compliance date or the two-midnight rule pertaining to hospital payments. However, it does lay out a program to have “widespread” electronic health records interoperability in 2019, with the threat that certified EHRs not supporting interoperability could be decertified.nn“As a consequence of a significant Federal investment in the implementation of health information technology through the Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive programs, Congress declares it a national objective to achieve widespread exchange of health information through interoperable EHR technology nationwide by December, 31, 2018,” according to the 158-page bill, available 
Further, the Department of Health and Human Services would be tasked to establish metrics to identify the extent to which interoperability objectives are being achieved, and to submit a report to Congress identifying objectives not being met along with recommendations to get them back on track. These recommended actions could include: “to adjust payments for not being meaningful EHR users under the Medicare EHR incentive programs;” and “criteria for decertifying certified EHR technology products.”nnThe legislation also calls for EHR users to demonstrate, possibly through attestation, that they have not “knowingly and willfully taken action (such as to disable functionality) to limit or restrict the compatibility or interoperability of the certified EHR technology.”nnThis 
M54.5 — Low back painnM54.6 — Pain in thoracic spinenM54.9 — Backache NOSnM54.41 — Lumbago with sciatica, right sidennIn preparation for the upcoming deadline for ICD-10 implementation, Welter Healthcare Partners presents weekly ICD-10 Codes of the Week! Our goal is to familiarize you with the new and expanded code set and the additional clinical documentation needed from your providers to comply with ICD-10 coding, and more importantly, for accurate and clean claims submission to keep your revenue stream flowing! We are to help YOU prepare for the October 1, 2015 implementation date. Please don’t hesitate to 
Ask your patients if they have a cafeteria plan at work. Money has to be spent by the end of the year! Keep track and start sending out cash pay service reminders mid October.nnStay tuned for more Todd’s Tips!nn
About R. Todd Welter • MS, CPCnFounder and President of Welter Healthcare Partners
A major problem we have in health care today is transparency.n
F32.0 — Major depressive disorder, single episode, mildnF33.1 — Seasonal depressive disorder, recurrent, moderatenF43.21 — Adjustment disorder with depressed moodnnIn preparation for the upcoming deadline for ICD-10 implementation, Welter Healthcare Partners presents weekly ICD-10 Codes of the Week! Our goal is to familiarize you with the new and expanded code set and the additional clinical documentation needed from your providers to comply with ICD-10 coding, and more importantly, for accurate and clean claims submission to keep your revenue stream flowing! We are to help YOU prepare for the October 1, 2015 implementation date. Please don’t hesitate to