MGMA believes ICD-10 compliance date is unworkable

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., Aug. 19, 2008 - The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) is extremely disappointed that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has called for an Oct. 1, 2011, compliance date for full implementation of the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10) code sets. MGMA supports the move to ICD-10, but contends that the date proposed in the regulation is not workable.

Specialty physician compensation barely keeps up with inflation
Primary care physicians report nominal pay increases despite large increase in production

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., July 14, 2008 – Specialty physicians’ overall compensation remained flat in 2007, (increasing just 0.31 percent, adjusted for inflation, or 3.16 percent without inflation) according to the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) Physician Compensation and Production Survey: 2008 Report Based on 2007 Data. Specialists’ compensation rose to a median of $332,450. Inflation amounts to a 2.85 percent increase in the consumer price index.

Physician issues, economic uncertainty, IT major concerns to group practice managers
First-ever public MGMA member opinion research highlights major challenges of running a group practice

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., July 8, 2008 – In new opinion research of medical group practice management professionals, members sounded off to Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) about managing a variety of challenges while safeguarding their practices’ financial solvency.

Passage of patient insurance-card standardization bill (SB 135) a step toward reducing health-care administrative burdens
MGMA cautions Colo. insurance commissioner to use national standards in enforcing legislation

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., June 9, 2008 – The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) applauds the passage of patient insurance card legislation in Colorado S.B. 135. It mandates that by July 1, 2010, all insurers in the state must issue patient identification cards with:

• Standard, legible information about the patient, insurance product and insurer; and
• Machine-readable information encoded on a magnetic strip.

ENGLEWOOD, Colo., March 6, 2008 – According to research conducted by the Medical Group Management Association (MGMA), group practices nationwide have already taken significant measures in response to the uncertain reimbursement environment and the failure of Medicare physician payments to keep pace with the cost of delivering care.* As a result of Congress’s six-month adjustment to Medicare payments, the looming 10.6 percent cut scheduled for July 1 and an additional 5.4 percent cut to physician reimbursement scheduled for January 2009, practices will have to reduce beneficiary access further and make even more operational sacrifices.