2009

In the proposed changes to the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System, CMS is proposing to change the physician supervision requirements applicable to hospital outpatient services described in the 2009 Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) final rule. In the proposed rulemaking release, issued July 1, 2009, CMS indicates that physician supervision requirements requiring "direct supervision"…

This proposed rule would update the revised Medicare Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Payment System to implement applicable statutory requirements and changes arising from CMS’s continued experience with administrating that system. The proposed rule sets forth applicable relative payment weights and amounts for services furnished in ASCs, the specific HCPCS codes to which these proposed changes would…

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid services released its proposed Medicare Physician Fee Schedule for 2010. The press release and the entire 1,200 fee schedule are attached. CMS is projecting a 21.5% physician fee schedule decrease based upon the application of the sustainable growth rate (SGR) formula. Of course, Congress has intervened in each of the last five…

In Hospital Authority of Valdosta and Lowndes County v. Meeks, the Georgia Supreme Court ruled that information contained in a physician’s peer review file was not necessarily protected by the Georgia Peer Review Confidentiality Statute.

Although the holding is enticing from the physician perspective, the limitations contained in the opinion render the precedent potentially meaningless.…

A new website is now available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) concerning Health Information Technology as provided for in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.  On this website, you can find information pertaining to the Medicare and Medicaid incentives for electronic health records adoption and important links to related

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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has become aware of a scam where perpetrators are sending faxes to physician offices posing as the Medicare carrier or Medicare Administrative Contractor (MAC).  The fax instructs physician staff to respond to a questionnaire to provide an account information update within 48 hours in order to prevent…

Stratienko v. Chattanooga-Hamilton County Hospital Authority, has produced yet another important opinion from the HCQIA prospective. In its most recent ruling, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee has dismissed a claim by physicians, named as defendants in the litigation arising out of Dr Stratienko’s suspension, to recover attorney’s fees against…

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