The 2014 OIG Work Plan includes the following:
Policies and Practices. We will determine the impact of subordinate facilities in hospitals billing Medicare as being hospital based (provider based) and the extent to which such facilities meet CMS’s criteria. Context—Provider-based status allows a subordinate facility to bill as part of the main provider. Provider-based status
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The 2014 OIG Work Plan includes the following:
Quality of Care and Safety. We will determine how hospitals assess medical staff candidates prior to granting initial privileges, including verification of credentials and review of the National Practitioner Databank. Context—Hospitals that participate in Medicare must have an organized medical staff that periodically appraises its members (42
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New joint legislation to repeal Medicare’s failed SGR formula is advancing to both chambers of Congress following an agreement announced Thursday by the three committees that put forth repeal bills earlier this session.
“The AMA congratulates House and Senate negotiators for taking this critical step toward reforming the nation’s Medicare program,” AMA President Ardis Dee…
Accretive Health recently agreed to settle a Federal Trade Commission (FTC) complaint that stems from a July, 2011 incident in which an Accretive employee’s laptop was stolen from his car. As a medical billing and revenue management services provider, Accretive grants its employees access to “sensitive personal health information” including “patient names, dates of birth,…
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a proposed rule that would modify the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule by allowing health care providers to make certain disclosures to the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS). The NICS aims to keep guns from being sold to those…
A Massachusetts-based dermatology practice recently agreed to pay $150,000 to settle claims that it failed to have sufficient policies and procedures in place to address a breach notification requirement under the HITECH Act. The investigation was initiated following a report that an unencrypted thumb drive containing electronic protected health information of approximately 2,200 individuals was…
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) has amended the Safe Harbor Regulation regarding electronic health record (EHR) items and services. The primary purpose of the amendment is to extend the Safe Harbor, which was scheduled to expire on December 31, 2013, until December 31, 2021.
Obviously, congressional hopes that EHR would be fully implemented by…
President Obama Signs the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013
–New Law Includes Physician Update Fix through March 2014–
On December 26, 2013, President Obama signed into law the Pathway for SGR Reform Act of 2013. This new law prevents a scheduled payment reduction for physicians and other practitioners who treat Medicare patients…
A strange result in Langenberg v. Warren General Hospital, suggests you should pay close attention to the termination language in hospital-physician employment contracts.
Warren General Hospital terminated Dr. Langenberg without cause specifically pursuant to the without cause provisions of his employment contract. Warren General Hospital nonetheless reported the termination as an adverse event to…
The AMA Wire reports the following action on the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule:
*3-month Medicare payment update approved for Jan. 1
*Congress has adopted a 0.5 percent update to Medicare payments for three months, following a bipartisan vote of 64 to 36 in the U.S. Senate Wednesday afternoon.
*The president is expected to sign…
