Part B Insider (Multispecialty) Coding Alert

By the Numbers:

Discover Where the Senior Medicare Patrol Project is Most Active

New York and Michigan have beefed up their SPM rosters, while other states, such as S. Carolina, have no volunteers.

Although the Senior Medicare Patrol (SMP) project is a nationwide initiative, some states are more active than others and recover more funds for the Medicare program. Following is a breakdown of where the most -- and least -- amounts of action took place in 2009, with the "top five" stats for each category listed.

Most volunteers: Last year, New York had 388 active volunteers in the SMP program, followed by 331 in Michigan, 253 in Oregon, 222 in California, and 190 in Idaho.

Fewest volunteers: South Carolina was the only state that had no SMP volunteers last year, while Nevada had just one volunteer, followed by 10 in Puerto Rico, 13 in Indiana, and 15 in New Jersey.

Most funds recovered: Nebraska recovered over $65,000 through the SMP program last year, which was far and away the highest amount. Ohio was a not-so-close second with $2,924, followed by Arkansas with $2,312, Delaware with $1,949, and Florida, where $1,808 was recovered.

Highest number of Medicare beneficiaries who attended group education sessions: Nearly 22,000 Medicare patients in California attended educational sessions, followed by 18,986 in Iowa, 18,381 in New York, 15,746 in North Carolina, and 11,590 in Alabama.

Fewest Medicare beneficiaries attending group education sessions: Although South Carolina was the only state without SMP volunteers, it did not boast the lowest number of patients attending group education sessions. That honor fell to Wyoming, with only 117 patients attending sessions, followed by Alaska, where 129 patients attended, Massachusetts, where 151 patients attended, and Delaware, which had 199 attendees.

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