Practice Management

AAFP Joins AMA, Other Medical Organizations in Calling On HHS to Delay NPI Deadline

(05/12/2008) -- The AAFP has joined the AMA and 35 other national medical organizations in urging HHS Secretary Michael Leavitt to delay a fast-approaching deadline that would require Medicare providers to file Medicare claims using only their National Provider Identifier, or NPI, number. In a letter dated May 1, the medical organizations cited their growing concerns about the ability of physician practices, clearinghouses and commercial insurance payers to meet the May 23 deadline. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

Medical Home IQ

TransforMED Offers Free Medical Home Assessment Tool

(05/08/2008) -- Medical practices working on becoming medical homes now can measure their progress, thanks to a free and comprehensive assessment tool recently made available by TransforMED, a practice redesign initiative affiliated with the AAFP. (Discuss this story on the AAFP News Now bulletin board.) More

Legacy Free Day

CMS Promotes One-Day NPI Testing Exercise

(04/30/2008) -- CMS is promoting a one-day testing exercise, dubbed "Legacy Free Day," on May 7 that is aimed at helping Medicare providers evaluate their National Provider Identifier, or NPI, readiness before CMS' May 23 deadline for using the NPI number alone. More

PQRI Changes Offer Physicians More Reporting Options

CMS Aims for Increased Participation in 2008

(04/25/2008) -- CMS recently announced tweaks to its 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, or PQRI, that should make it easier for family physicians and other eligible health care professionals to participate in -- and benefit from -- the program this year. More

National Demonstration Project Concludes

TransforMED Practices Reflect on Successes, Challenges

(04/18/2008) -- More than 70 family physicians and other health care professionals representing 30 family medicine practices from across the country met April 11-13 in Kansas City, Mo., to mark the end of a national demonstration project launched nearly two years ago by TransforMED, a not-for-profit redesign initiative affiliated with the AAFP. More

CMS Issues Final Rule on E-Prescribing Standards

(04/10/2008) -- CMS recently released a final rule that sets uniform standards for electronic prescribing, or e-prescribing, under the Medicare Part D prescription drug program. The rule does not require physicians, pharmacies and other providers to adopt e-prescribing as a condition of their participation in Medicare. Late last year, Academy EVP Douglas Henley, M.D., spoke out against mandatory e-prescribing, saying that calls for such action were preliminary. More

'Get Connected' Program Encourages Electronic Prescribing

Federal Deadlines Create Sense of Urgency

(03/06/2008) -- On March 4, the AAFP and four other national physician organizations launched a new program designed to help physicians send prescriptions to pharmacies electronically. The "Get Connected" program features a Web site where physicians can assess their e-prescribing readiness and learn, step-by-step, what needs to be done to make e-prescribing a reality in their practices. More

Physician Quality Reporting Initiative

Preliminary Report Offers First Glimpse of Quality Reporting Progress

(03/05/2008) -- Tens of thousands of health care providers -- some of them family physicians -- will collect a little extra cash later in 2008 because of their participation in CMS' 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative, or PQRI. That's according to preliminary data recently released by CMS in response to an inquiry from Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., chair of the Senate Finance Committee, about the initiative's progress. More