The final rules for the Stark excetions allowing entities to provide non_monetry assistance for electronic health records and e-prescribing systems were issued in final form and are avaialable on the CMS web site mentioned in the press release reproduced in the MedLaw Blog.
Continue Reading Stark Exceptions for E-Prescribing and E-Health Records Final

The Pennsylvania Legislature enacted the Health Savings Account Act (the "HSA Act") 72 P.S. §§3402b.1-3402b.6, on July 14, 2005, to be effective sixty days thereafter. As enacted, Section 4 of the HSA Act did not provide an exclusion from Pennsylvania tax for contributions by employers and employees to health savings account plans. Accordingly, there were not deductions…

CCHIT was awarded a contract  in September of 2005 by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to develop and evaluate criteria and to establish an inspection process to provide certification for electronic health records. CCHIT has been endorsed by the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP), the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), and the American…

Senator Bill Frist has launched a new healthcare Blog. MedicalMatter.org: a21st Century Discussion of Health Care Issues. According to the inaugural post, the blog is about "healthcare and the politics of healthcare", and will address issues such as electronic health records (EHR), stem cell research, health savings accounts (HSA), and many other topics.

Physician Care Plan Oversight (CPO) is paid under the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS), and due to a provision in the Medicare Claims Processing Manual (Publication 100-04, Chapter 12, Section 180), Non-Physician Practitioners (NPPs) have been prohibited from billing for this service in a home health setting.

The current manual section (Section 180) provides that…

MEDICARE PROGRAM: 5 YEAR REVIEW OF WORK RELATIVE VALUE UNITS UNDER THE PHYSICIAN FEE SCHEDULE

On June 29, 2006, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) proposed its 5 year update to the work relative value units (RVUs) used for the physician fee schedule, linked hereto at Physician Fee Schedule. Note, this is…

On June 22, 2006, CMS announced proposed changes for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. The proposed changes will appear in the June 29, 2006 Federal Register. The proposed changes include a comprehensive review of the RVU work component for Evaluation and Management Codes, which is projected to increase Medicare expenditures by $4 billion, and a…

The District Court of Appeal of the State of Florida affirmed a lower state court holding that certain aspects of a restricted covenant were not enforceable. In Florida Hematology and Oncology v. Rambabu Tummala, M.D., the Practice had terminated Dr. Tummala allegedly after he began questioning certain billing practices. Although Dr. Tummala was subject to a restrictive covenant prohibiting competition for two years within fifteen (15) miles of any office of the Practice, Dr. Tummala immediately opened a competing practice within the proscribed area. The Practice sought an injunction forcing the restrictive covenant. Continue Reading FLORIDA STATE COURT INVALIDATES RESTRICTIVE COVENANT

In a recent discovery order of The United States District Court, the Southern District of Texas confirms the relevance and discoverability of patient records in credentialing disputes involving comparative peer review, i.e., the peer review disputes where the penalties imposed one physician are dissimilar or unequal to those imposed on others. Continue Reading COMPARATIVE PEER REVIEW RECORDS MADE AVAILABLE BY COURT ORDER

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