Wellpoint Rate Hike Fuels Obama’s Case for Reform
Health insurer WellPoint Inc. recently announced its intent to increase rates for certain California Anthem Blue Cross members by an average of approximately 30 percent.

Read more & comment »

Take a Lesson in 5010 Readiness
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released two new Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Version 5010 fact sheets, as well as two companion checklists, to assist providers in transitioning to 5010. With compliance deadlines rapidly approaching, the time to prepare is now.

Read more & comment »

Meaningful Use Begins with EHR Vendor Agreement
Providers looking to claim a piece of the incentive pie for “meaningful use” of an electronic health record (EHR) system face a difficult decision—choosing EHR system software. Early adopters of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) provision stand to gain the most, but haste makes waste. Before your practice signs an agreement with a vendor, take time to read the fine print. There are certain things to watch out for.

Read more & comment »

Highlights of 2011 Presidential Budget for HHS
President Barack Obama’s $3.8 trillion 2011 budget, which he submitted to Congress on Feb. 1, includes $81.3 billion for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to provide essential human services. A lion’s share will go to states to cover a six-month increase in Medicaid funding. Also included in the budget are funds for expanding health care fraud initiatives, primary care physician access, food and drug safety, biomedical research and more.

Health Groups Vie for Red Flags Rule Exclusion
With less than six months before the Red Flags Rule is set to go into effect, four national organizations have requested the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) reconsider the inclusion of health professionals in the regulation.

AMA: Protect Physician Identify to Limit Fraud
Health care fraud could be reigned in if more attention was paid to protecting physicians from it rather than investigating them for it. That was the general message the American Medical Association (AMA) relayed to government officials at a “National Summit on Health Care Fraud” on Jan. 28.

Orthopedic Coding Compliance for ASCs Webinar
Coding compliance is perhaps the biggest challenge facing ASCs today. With that in mind, GENASCIS has partnered with healthcare regulatory compliance expert MedLearn to provide coding compliance education and tools to ASCs. MedLearn’s speaker, Peggy Hapner, RHIA, CASCC, CCS, is a nationally recognized speaker on coding and reimbursement for Orthopedic Coding and Compliance.

Coding Job Links
AAPC Job Database