Keeping off the pounds is tough at any age. Now seniors are getting a helping hand from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), which has announced that it will cover screening and counseling for obesity as a free preventive service for Medicare beneficiaries.

Coverage is effective immediately.

Advocates hope that CMS’ decision may encourage private insurers and Medicaid to begin covering obesity screening and counseling as well.

“I think it’s fantastic,” says Dr. Marijane Hynes, a primary care physician at George Washington Medical Faculty Associates Weight Loss Clinic.

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WASHINGTON – The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has its work cut out in transitioning to ICD-10. As the largest payer and the force driving the new code sets in the United States, CMS has a task at least as intimidating as anyone else when it comes to implementation.

“Given the extent to which the code set is built into many business and operating processes and systems, the size of CMS operations, and the complexity of its systems,” the challenges CMS faces are indeed formidable, according to a report published last week from the National Research Council, which CMS assigned to help it better understand how to modernize CMS’ own IT.

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By now, we know physician practices have slightly different rules when it comes to their IT, and just as their technology is different, so are the challenges they’ll face in the upcoming year.

Whether it’s meaningful use or simply finding the right personnel, 2012 promises to be chock-full of tricky IT issues for physician practices. Bob Dean, vice president of technology at ChartLogic, gives us the top 10 challenges for physician practices in the new year.

1. Choosing the right technology. According to Dean, physicians will face a significantly increased number of data reporting requirements in 2012 and 2013. "For practice leaders, the decision is not whether to purchase an EHR, but what type is right for their office," he said. “In addition to the technology, customer service will play a key role, since many small medical groups are unable to hire a full-time, or even part-time, IT staffer.” And when it comes to meaningful use requirements, Dean said providers should keep in mind they’ll have to collect vital signs during patient visits, in addition to nurses and medical assistants. “The surgeon will need to document his evaluation of the patient. So, surgeons should look for an EHR system that can speed up the data entry process through dictation or click minimization.”

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Signing up for health insurance during your company's annual enrollment period, which for many plans is right now, may feel like taking a nasty dose of medicine: You know it's good for you, but it sure doesn't go down easy.
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On the plus side, nearly two-thirds of companies are still offering health insurance to their employees, according to the Kaiser Family Foundation's annual survey of employer health benefits. That's worth a lot.

But that coverage won't come cheap, as premiums, deductibles and cost sharing continue to rise, sometimes even more steeply than in previous years. More employers are also moving to high-deductible plans that shift increasing expenses onto their employees, requiring them to pay more before benefits kick in. And companies are making it pricier to insure spouses and children.

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