-E/ALERT

Congress authorized the fee hike through 2009. Had lawmakers not intervened, physician payments were due to be cut by 15.1 percent under the statutory update formula.

Pathologists and others paid under the fee schedule also can receive an incentive payment of 2 percent of total allowed charges for successfully participating in the 2009 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI). The PQRI quality measures include pathology protocols for breast and colorectal cancer.

The final rule implements new financial incentives Congress authorized for physicians who adopt e-prescribing. Those who use qualified electronic prescribing systems to send prescriptions to pharmacies can earn an incentive payment of 2 percent of their total Medicare allowed charges during 2009.

Further, the rule implements the congressionally mandated 1 percent increase in the ESRD (end-stage renal disease) composite rate and establishes a site-neutral base composite rate for both hospital and independent dialysis facilities.