Subscribe Now
 Already a subscriber? Log-in!
This biweekly newsletter provides concise, independent coverage and analysis of fast-breaking lab, pathology, blood banking, imaging and diagnostic radiology news from the Nation's Capital.
You'll find out about:
- Medicare payment and policy directives Billing guidelines and coding changes for diagnostic facilities
- CLIA & MQSA regulatory mandates, changes and interpretations
- Congressional actions & legislative initiatives
- Federal compliance requirements
- OIG anti-fraud initiatives
- Stark self-referral prohibitions
Plus you will get other legal news regarding FDA oversight of in vitro diagnostics, blood banks, and radiological devices OSHA, NRC, and state safety standards.
|
|
|
 |
 | NIR January 8, 2010 (Full PDF Issue) |
| Focus on Lab Payment Policy:
Quick Guide to the 2010 Medicare lab fee schedule
q Update triggers a 1.9 percent cut
q Pap smear minimum payment reduced
q Fees for new CPT, G codes
q Reconsideration for MPO crosswalk
q Deleted codes
q Travel allowance
Medicare to cover kidney disease patient education services
CMS finalizes decision for Medicare coverage of voluntary HIV screening
Upcoming G-2 Events
q Webinars
q Molecular diagnostics conference
Full Article |
| CMS Advises Providers on End of Pathology ‘Grandfather’ Protection |
| The statutory moratorium protecting certain pathology billings by independent clinical laboratories expired as of Dec. 31, 2009, but provisions to extend it are pending in House and Senate health care reform bills awaiting reconciliation.
Full Article |
| Pathologists Spared Fee Cut, But Not Clinical Laboratories |
| Pathologists and other physicians escaped a cut of 21.2 percent in Medicare payments scheduled for Jan. 1, 2010, but have their fees frozen at 2009 levels for two months, through Feb. 28, giving Congress time to work out differences in changes to the current Medicare physician payment system.
Full Article |
| Focus On: Lab Payment Policy: Quick Guide to the 2010 Medicare Lab Fee Schedule |
| Annual Update Triggers Cut of 1.9 Percent Jan. 1
Starting Jan. 1, lab fees are cut by 1.9 percent under the 2010 calendar year Medicare clinical laboratory fee schedule released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
Full Article |
| Medicare to Cover Kidney Disease Patient Education |
| Effective Jan. 1, 2010, kidney disease patient education services will be added as a Part B covered benefit for Medicare beneficiaries diagnosed with Stage IV chronic kidney disease (severe decrease in GFR; GFR value of 15 to 29 ml/min/1.73 m2), who have received a referral from the physician managing the beneficiary’s kidney condition.
Full Article |
| Medicare Finalizes Decision to Cover HIV Screening |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has expanded the Medicare preventive services benefit by adding coverage of voluntary HIV screening for beneficiaries.
Full Article |
|
|
Please choose an archived issue to view newsletter table of contents above
|
|
