Chalk this article up to exhaustion.
It turns out that the annoying cough I've been fighting for the last week is actually bronchitis. For this, my urgent care physician prescribed a Z-Pack and $50 cough syrup that makes you drowsy. To spare the reader, I skipped the cough syrup for this article, as it's a fine line between an industry article and William Burroughs' Naked Lunch. I'll be brief, and hopefully effective.
Two updates of note came to light this week. First, on January 4th, Medicare was to implement a rule clarifying date of service and place of service rules for interpretation of diagnostic tests. These rules stated that the date of service and place of service of the interpretation of diagnostic tests should be when and where the interpretation was performed, and not the date and place of the performance of the test. Thankfully, on February 5th, this new rule was postponed indefinitely due to mass provider confusion. The policy could be reviewed at a later date for future implementation.
The second update follows up on my last article regarding the 2010 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. Thanks to the snowstorms that pounded the East Coast this week, which led to a federal government shutdown, a new proposal has been put forward in the U. S. Senate which delays the scheduled 21.3% cut to the fee schedule until October 1st, 2010. Again, this is not the permanent fix hoped for by physicians, but rather an adjustment in position of the Sword of Damocles that currently hangs over every physician's head. If the proposal becomes law, the 2009 fee schedule would stay in effect until October 1st, which offers yet another window of opportunity for a permanent pay fix. With Congress in recess all of next week, it remains to be seen whether this temporary fix is passed by March 1st given the arcane rule of every bill in the Senate needing a super majority of 60 votes in order to move any legislation.
As you can see, it's a light week. I'm hoping that I relayed useful information between coughs. Thankfully these articles are not wired for the sounds emanating from the author. Enjoy your weekend, and I promise I'll be more substantial when the cough medicine runs out.