The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Updates Physician Payment Information for Value-Driven Health Care
To support the delivery of high-quality, efficient health care and enable consumers to make more informed health care decisions, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services is making cost and quality data available to all Americans. As part of this initiative, Medicare posted information in 2007, 2008 and 2009 about the payments it made during the previous year for common and elective procedures and services provided by Hospitals, Ambulatory Surgery Centers (ASCs), Hospital Outpatient Departments, and Physicians. The Hospital information is posted on the Hospital Compare Website where it can be viewed along with hospital quality information. The Hospital compare website may be found at www.medicare.gov<http://www.medicare.gov/>. On August 20, 2010, Medicare posted an update to the Ambulatory Surgery Center data. The Hospital Outpatient Department payment update was posted on September 29, 2010 and the Physician update was posted on October 1, 2010. The information is being displayed in the same format as in previous years, updated with calendar year (CY) 2009 data. The posting updates may be found at: www.cms.hhs.gov/HealthCareConInit/<http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HealthCareConInit/>. _____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________ October Flu Shot Reminder Vaccination is the Best Protection Against the Flu. This year, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is encouraging everyone 6 months of age and older to get vaccinated against the seasonal flu. The risks for complications, hospitalizations and deaths from the flu are higher among individuals aged 65 years and older. Medicare pays for the seasonal flu vaccine and its administration for seniors and others with Medicare with no co-pay or deductible. And remember, vaccination is particularly important for health care workers, who may spread the flu to high risk patients. Don't forget to immunize yourself and your staff. Protect your patients. Protect your family. Protect yourself. Get Your Flu Vaccine - Not the Flu. Remember - Influenza vaccine plus its administration are covered Part B benefits. Note that influenza vaccine is NOT a Part D covered drug. For information about Medicare's coverage of the influenza vaccine and its administration, as well as related educational resources for health care professionals and their staff, please visit http://www.cms.gov/AdultImmunizations. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Note: If you have problems accessing any hyperlink in this message, please copy and paste the URL into your Internet browser. Please DO NOT respond to this email. This email is a service of CMS and routed through an electronic mail server to communicate Medicare policy and operational changes and/or updates. Responses to this email are not routed to CMS personnel. Inquiries may be sent by going to (http://www.cms.gov/ContactCMS). Thank you. If you know someone who would like to subscribe to a Medicare Fee-For-Service (FFS) provider listserv, go to (http://www.cms.gov/prospmedicarefeesvcpmtgen/downloads/Provider_Listservs.pdf). If you would like to unsubscribe from a specific provider listserv, please go to (https://list.nih.gov/cgi-bin/wa.exe?INDEX) to unsubscribe or to leave the appropriate listserv.
