If you have been randomly selected to participate in the "2010 Medicare Contractor Provider Satisfaction Survey," time is running out to let CMS know what you think of your fiscal intermediary.

Where to find complete HHCAHPS information before the June 16 deadline

May homehHealth, hospice and DME Open Door Forum scheduled

ICD-10 conference call for providers set for June 15

— ICD-10 Conference Call Today, Tuesday, 3/23 — PECOS system will be down next week for scheduled maintenance — Medicare Fraud & Abuse fact sheet published, full of useful information

Education released for 5010, new HIPAA X12 transaction standards. Obama FY2011 budget allocations millions for Health IT. HME industry snubbed by HHS at Medicare fraud summit.

Reminder: OASIS submission login system begins to change next month. Free Remittance Advice training available online Complete text of CMS/ONC "meaningful use" proposed rule.

In the mid-1980's, the government and insurance industry sat down to discuss ways in which patient information and payment data might be enhanced by the emerging electronic communications technologies of that era. The result of those discussions, 13 years later, was HIPAA. Though privacy and security rules are normally all that is discussed, HIPAA does have some electronic communications components, ineffective though they may be. Now, with Health IT again on the front burner, physicians and hospitals may soon receive payments for using electronic health records, provided they use them "meaningfully." Now, we are finally about to discover what that means.