With the Obama administration arrival only a few weeks away, the discussion about CCHIT’s long-term viability is starting to heat up. Even though I am on the Child Health Workgroup and appreciate the effort and intelligence of the civilians working w...
Many times I have made the following statement at the front of a room: "The only payers you can't negotiate with are Medicare and the state-run Medicaids. Everyone else will negotiate." Everyone, that is, except for Tricare. Tricare, as most of you k...
At the AAP-endorsed Pediatric Coding and Practice Management events we’ve been hosting, I’ve slipped in a running piece about pediatric compensation models that gets fairly good reception. Practices are eager to learn about how other practices pay th...
The AAP has updated and revised its RBRVS policy statement and it is included in December's Pediatrics. Yours truly provides the full PDF here, as it remains the best description of the state of RVUs and pediatrics (thanks Siousxie and the COCN). A G...
I have tried to get a little more information about the new appeals process being put into place by the signatories to the Love Settlement (you can read details here) but I am still not clear on a few things. I am told by someone who is heavily invol...
Recently, Susanne Madden predicted that the payers were going to start making “administrative” changes in the face of the economic downturn. Well, if these two examples from the last 24 hours are any indication, we’re in for a rough ride.
You don't have to spend much time with me before you hear me mumble and grumble about certain subjects, one of my favorite being the (lack of) speed at which the AAP moves and how conservative it often is when protecting the needs of its members. Ima...
OK, overdue, but done. Here's what I did...I took the top 40 RVU-valid CPT codes that our clients have performed over the last 12 months and fit them into an overall model comparing the 2008 Transitioned Non-Facility Rates to the 2009 Transitioned No...
I had a great time speaking to Drs. Bravo and Rogu on their growing podcast, The Pediatric Lounge, to discuss the state of independent pediatricians and the use of data in a pediatric practice. They are cranking out episodes (which is a good thing) and anyone who supports independent pediatricians should tune in to their effort. What they are doing takes a tremendous amount of work and their guest list is amazing (well, besides me). They turned our conversation into back-to-back episodes (32 and 33), "Independent Pediatric Practice 2022" and "Data Data Data and Managing a Pediatric Office." If you prefer video, you catch up on their YouTube channel.
