November 2008

Final Rule for the Medicare 2009 Physician Fee Schedule

The 2009 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule Final Rule was released in draft form on October 30, 2008, and the official version appears in the November 19, 2008 Federal Register. The Federal Register version is available at the Government Printing Office website, www.gpoaccess.gov/fr. The Proposed Rule (published July 7) contained several provisions that would have negatively impacted many physician practices, including requiring physician offices performing diagnostic imaging to enroll as Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities (IDTF), and updates to the Physician Self-Referral and Anti-Markup issues. In the Final Rule, however, we were pleased to see that CMS did not adopt some of the more narrow guidelines they were considering in the Proposed Rule related to Diagnostic Imaging. Read more...

Eight Year-End Tax Moves for 2008
As usual, you may want to utilize some tried-and-true tax strategies as the year winds down. However, there are several interesting twists and turns to year-end tax planning in 2008. Keeping that in mind, here are eight tax moves to consider late this year. Read more...

Job Opening - Executive Director
A 12 physician orthopedic group in Upland, Pennsylvania with three office locations is searching for an Executive Director. The Executive Director will be responsible for leading and directing a team of six managers who are responsible for all clinical and business functions. Experience in working with a large group of physicians is essential. Must possess leadership skills to guide and motivate members of the staff. Read more...

Somerset Health Care Team News

Interim Management Services. Charles Mason and David Oster of the Somerset Health Care Team have assumed interim management of Bluefield Regional Medical Center in West Virginia. Read the full story online. Please contact us if you would like to discuss our services in this area.

Somerset Health Care Executive Breakfast. The first in a series of Executive Roundtable Discussions was held on Friday, November 21. Speakers for the meeting included Greg Williams of Medical Present Value, Inc. (MPV); Twyla Fuertes, Chief Business Officer of Texas Orthopedics,
Sports and Rehabilitation Associates; Tom Carson, Director, Managed Care of Indiana University Medical Group and Jim Hamilton of the Somerset Health Care Team. We thank everyone for their participation. If you were not able to attend and would like to receive the handouts, please let us know. The next meeting will be held on Thursday, February 5, 2009--please save the date!

Press Releases. Several members of the Somerset Team have been in the news recently. Pat Early, president of Somerset CPAs, was honored with the Charles L. Whistler Award, Indianapolis' highest civic tribute and the most prestigious honor given by the Mayor's Office. The 'Super CPAs' list for Indiana was released, and our many of our professionals were recognized. For the full information, please visit our online Press Releases page.

Somerset Client Satisfaction Survey - If you are a Somerset client, please take our survey concerning the services we have provided to you. Our goal is to improve our overall relationship and better serve you. Go to survey.

In Other News...
Somerset publishes a variety of newsletters in addition to Health Care Commentaries--such as Wherewithal, Tax Times, Wealth Management Bullets and several others. Please visit the Newsletters page of our web site to read the archives and sign up to have new issues delivered to your email inbox.

Health Care Commentaries is provided by Somerset’s Health Care Team for our clients and other interested persons upon request. Since technical information is presented in generalized fashion, no final conclusion on these topics should be made without further review. For additional information on the issues discussed, please contact a member of our Health Care Team. This document is not intended or written to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of avoiding tax penalties that may be imposed on the taxpayer.