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Medicare 2008 - Changes for Physical Therapy

December 12, 2007

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Expert Speakers:

Gayle R. Lee, JD, has more than 10 years of experience working on health care issues that affect the rehabilitation industry. Lee is the director of regulatory affairs for the American Physical Therapy Association. As the department's federal regulatory expert, Lee is primarily responsible for issues involving Medicare, Medicaid, HIPAA, and CHAMPUS. She specifically works on regulations that affect physical therapists practicing in skilled nursing facilities, home health agencies, rehabilitation hospitals/units, comprehensive outpatient rehabilitation facilities, rehabilitation agencies, and private practice settings. She also has worked at the American Rehabilitation Association, where she was assistant counsel and policy coordinator.

Steve Levine, PT, DPT, MSHA, is the founder of the Rehabilitation Consulting & Resource Institute, Inc., (RCRI), an independent consulting firm focusing on practice management and reimbursement strategies in the outpatient rehabilitation setting. For over 15 years, Dr. Levine has been a consultant to physical therapy providers, local and national third party payers, regulators, and case management agencies in the areas of CPT coding and relative values, RBRVS, cost containment, fraud and abuse, medical necessity and quality assurance issues, reimbursement strategies for physical therapy services, and physical therapy peer/utilization review. Additionally, he has worked extensively with federal investigative and law enforcement agencies in the areas of fraud, abuse, medical necessity, utilization management, and medical policy review. Prior to development of RCRI, he was involved in operation and ownership of a private practice in Maryland for 18 years. As the former national APTA appointee to the AMA's Health Care Professional's Advisory Committee of the Relative Value Update Committee (RUC), Levine is considered one of the foremost experts on Medicare policy and development and implementation of RBRVS under Medicare.

Roshunda Drummond-Dye, Esq is Associate Director, Regulatory Affairs at APTA in the Government Affairs Department. Roshunda comes to us from the American Society for Therapeutic Radiology and Oncology where she served as Senior Policy Analyst and was responsible for drafting policy positions, analyzing and researching federal legislation and regulations in the field of health care, and preparing testimony, legal briefs and memoranda. She also advised members on compliance issues and fraud & abuse laws. Prior to joining ASTRO, Roshunda served as a legislative assistant to U.S. Rep. Sonny Callahan (R-AL) where she worked on a range of issues including Medicare and appropriations. She received her law degree from the Southern University Law Center and completed her undergraduate work at Talladega College.

Original Audio Conference Description:

Changes to the Medicare program that go into effect in 2008 can have a dramatic effect on physical therapist practice and reimbursement. Find out the latest information on the new 2008 Medicare payment rates for outpatient therapy services, certification changes to the therapy plan of care, qualification standards for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants, the therapy cap, and more.

Expert outpatient physical therapy practice management and reimbursement consultant Steve Levine, PT, DPT, MSHA, joins Gayle Lee, JD, APTA's Director of Regulatory Affairs, and Roshunda Drummond-Dye, Esq, APTA's Associate Director of Regulatory Affairs, to provide critical information about Medicare's new rules affecting coverage and payment for physical therapy services in 2008. During a Q & A session following the overview, participants may ask questions directly to the experts.

Upon completion of the audio conference, you will be able to:

• Determine the bottom-line impact on your practice of CMS's changes to the physician fee schedule.
• Identify the new therapy cap amount for 2008.
• Comply with rules regarding plan-of-care certification.
• Ensure your personnel are meeting the new qualification standards for physical therapists and physical therapist assistants.
• Adapt your practice to participate in the physician quality reporting initiative (PQRI).
• Cite the latest government activities regarding the therapy cap and fee-schedule payment amounts.
• And much more!

Continuing Education Units: Each registered participant will receive a Certificate of Attendance to earn .2 CEU or 2 contact hours after successful completion of a test with a score of 70% or better.