<p>Here's some items from APTA that may be of interest to you.</p><p>Jill
Cooper, IPTA</p><p><b>Searching for Systematic Reviews and Controlled Trials
Just Got a Little Easier</b><br />Open Door: APTA?s Portal to Evidence-based
Practice (available at http://www.apta.org/OpenDoor) welcomes three databases
from the Cochrane Collaboration, a premier source of medical evidence for
treatments, diagnostic techniques, and preventive interventions. The Cochrane
Database of Systematic Reviews (CDSR) contains the full text of regularly
updated systematic reviews and protocols for reviews of the effects of
healthcare. The Database of Abstracts of Reviews of Effects (DARE) contains
structured abstracts of critical assessments of systematic reviews from a
variety of medical journals and is produced by the Centre for Reviews and
Dissemination. The Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) is
a database of more than 350,000 abstracts of definitive randomized controlled
trials and controlled clinical trials from around the globe. Go to the
"Research journal collections" section in Open Door and search the
Cochrane databases separately or combined with the Cumulative Index to Nursing
and Allied Health Literature (CINAHL). Questions? Interested in training or
searching tips? Contact Gini Blodgett Birchett at opendoor@apta.org.<br /><br
/> <b>MS Announces Public Disclosure of Provider Data</b><br />The Centers for
Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced yesterday that physical
therapists will be able to go online to access National Provider Identifiers
(NPIs) and additional information about referring physicians and other
providers. Beginning June 28, 2007, provider data will be downloadable from the
CMS Web site (http://www.cms.hhs.gov/NationalProvIdentStand) and available in a
database allowing users to query by NPI or provider name. The notice
(http://a257.g.akamaitech.net/7/257/2422/01jan20071800/edocket.access.gpo.gov/2007/pdf/07-2651.pdf)
establishes the data that will be made available and how health care providers
will be able to access this information. APTA has prepared a summary of the
announcement for its members, which is posted at
http://www.apta.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=Become_a_Provider_Supplier&CONTENTID=39719&TEMPLATE=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm.<br
/><br /> <b>Claim-Form Deadline Set for July 1</b><br />CMS has confirmed that
after July 1, 2007, it will no longer accept the old CMS-1500 (12-90) claim
forms. Under Transmittal 1247
(http://www.cms.hhs.gov/transmittals/downloads/R1247CP.pdf), providers will be
required only to submit CMS-1500 (08-05) beginning July 2. The form is for use
by physicians and suppliers qualifying for electronic-claims-submission
requirements set forth in the Administrative Simplification Compliance Act
(ASCA).<br /></p>