SEMINOLE COUNTY MEDICAL SOCIETY

Carrie Gilbert

Carrie Gilbert - Executive Director, Seminole County Medical Society

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Takes New Steps to Accelerate Adoption of Electronic Prescribing

According to the United States Department of Health and Human ServicesMedicare has begun a new program to encourage physicians to adopt e-prescribing systems. Incentive payments will be available beginning in 2009 for physicians who meet the requirements of the program. The initiative is part of the Administration's broader efforts to accelerate the adoption of health IT and the establishment of a health care system based on value. Medicare is expected to save up to $156 million over the five-year course of the program in avoided adverse drug events. It's been estimated that Medicare beneficiaries experience as many as 530,000 adverse drug events every year, contributed to in part by negative interactions with other drugs, or a prescriber's lack of information about a patient's medication history. Electronic prescribing can help deliver safer, more efficient care to patients. United States Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt has consistently advocated for Medicare payments to be connected to physicians' adoption of e-prescribing and recently Congress enacted legislation allowing such an effort to go forward.

New Report Shows CMS Pilot Program Saving Nearly $700 Million in Improper Medicare Payments

On July 11, 2008, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services released a new report offering fresh evidence that the recovery audit contractors (RACs) pilot program is successfully identifying improper payments. These findings are expected to help the agency improve the program as it's expanded nationwide within the next two years, according to officials. The report reflected $693.6 million in improper Medicare payments was returned to the Medicare Trust Fund between 2005 and March 2008. According to the report, 85 percent of the overpayments were collected from inpatient hospital providers, 6 percent from inpatient rehabilitation facilities, and 4 percent from outpatient hospital providers. The RAC pilot program, which began in Florida in addition to several other states, was designed to protect the Medicare Trust Funds and beneficiaries from improper payments.

SCMS Membership Benefit

SCMS is pleased to offer its medical liability benefit package. As part of the effort by SCMS to address the medical liability issue for its members, SCMS has created several medical liability benefits for members who have been in the Society for more than one continuous year. An outline of these benefits can be found on the SCMS website at www.scmsociety.com or by contacting the SCMS office at 407-804-9535.