Volume 8/Issue 2
February 2010

Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services

CMS Delays PECOS Cut-Off for Medicare Providers to 2011

Friday, March 5th, 2010

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is giving Medicare providers – including APRNs – another year to enroll or update their enrollment in the PECOS system, as a condition of payment for items and services they order for their patients, or referrals they make to other clinicians.

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FDA Initiative Addresses Unnecessary Radiation Exposure

Friday, March 5th, 2010

With recent news of excessive, harmful radiation from medical imaging procedures, the U.S. Food & Drug Administration announced on February 9, 2010 an initiative to decrease unnecessary exposure from computed tomography (CT) scans, nuclear medicine studies, and fluoroscopy. These contribute substantially to total radiation exposure, with much higher radiation than standard and dental X-rays, and mammography.

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MedPAC Focuses on Nurse Practitioners & Other Non-Physicians

Friday, January 29th, 2010

At the January 14-15, 2010 meeting of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, commonly known as MedPAC, commissioners supported a greater focus on non-physician Medicare providers, and recognized the important role of Nurse Practitioners in primary care and home health care.

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CMS Withdraws Medicaid Rule Limiting Rehabilitative Services

Thursday, December 3rd, 2009

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has withdrawn a controversial Medicaid proposal by the Bush administration to limit federal funding for rehabilitative services provided by child welfare, foster care, and other “nonmedical” programs.

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