MEDICAL PAYMENT ADVISORY COMMISSION (MEDPAC) REPORTS
DEAL WITH PRACTICE EXPENSE METHODOLOGY, SGR AND P4P:
MedPac reported to Congress on a variety of issues in March of 2007. MedPac predicted that the new practice expense methodology will produce a 7% E&M increase, but an 8-9% decrease for major imaging procedures by 2010. MedPac concluded that Sustainable Growth Rate…
PRESCRIPTION FOR PENNSYLVANIA – GOVERNOR RENDELL’S PROPOSAL
FOR PENNSYLVANIA HEALTH CARE REFORM
Representatives of Governor Rendell’s administration reported at the Pennsylvania Bar Institute Annual Health Law Institute that Governor Rendell’s “Prescription for Pennsylvania,” the comprehensive state health care reform program, is expected to be presented to the Pennsylvania Legislature before the end of the month. Prescription for…
When physicians have finally completed the medical education journey, many are confronted with a “physician employment contract,” usually from a hospital or medical practice, which could define the essential terms of their professional relationship for many years to come. If the parties live happily ever after, neither may ever read the contract again. However, if a problem arises, the scramble to find and read the contract begins.
Continue Reading Basic Physician Contract Issues for Residents and Fellows
There have been two recent developments regarding the enforcement of expert witness standards, one enforcing standards by a society and one declining to enforce the standards in a private defamation action.
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons suspended one member and censored another for violating the Standards of Professionalism (SOPs) on orthopaedic expert witness testimony. The…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has quietly reversed itself on the new standards for Independent Diagnostic Testing Facilities (IDTFs). Transmittal 187, which established new standards for IDTFs and was scheduled to be effective as of February 26, 2007, was rescinded without explanation. Therefore, some of the more significant changes, such as:
§ …
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is pleased to announce that the 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) webpage is now available.
On December 20, 2006 the President signed the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006 (TRHCA). Section 101 under Title I authorizes the establishment of a physician quality reporting system …
The Internal Revenue Service has issued guidance regarding rollovers from Flexible Spending Arrangements (FSAs) and Health Reimbursement Arrangements (RHAs) to Health Savings Accounts (HSAs). The guidance is necessary because Health Savings Accounts are typically not available to individuals who are covered by standard FSAs and HRAs. The Tax Relief and Health Care Act of 2006…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced significant changes to the regulatory requirements for operating independent diagnostic testing facilities (IDTFs) on January 26, 2007, which new rules will become affective February 26, 2007. These new requirements affect the:
§ Performance standards for operation.
§ The requirements for both interpreting and supervising physicians.…
For an amusing satire about managed care, check out www.calhealthplan.org, which was created by California consumer activists ( who else?) to highlight perceived managed care abuses. The Nurse Avenger video game is mildly amusing, but the theme song & video, the "Pirates of the Health Care-ibbean" is biting and hysterical, unless you’re a managed…
A California court recently concluded that exhaustion of administrative remedies was not required as a condition precedent to reinstatement of a physician. The summary description of this holding is somewhat misleading, because it is commonly accepted that physicians must exhaust their administrative remedies, i.e., the medical staff peer review hearing process, before pursuing either civil or…
