CMS APPROVES THREE NATIONAL ORGANIZATIONS TO
ACCREDIT SUPPLIERS OF ADVANCED IMAGING SERVICES
MRI, CT AND PET SCANS AMONG SERVICES TO BE AFFECTED
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is designating three national accreditation organizations – the American College of Radiology (ACR), the Intersocietal Accreditation Commission (IAC), and The Joint Commission (TJC)…
On January 28, the Senate approved legislation that will increase the federal debt limit to $1.9 trillion. Included in this legislation was a provision to reinstate "pay-go" rules mandating that Congress must offset any future increased spending with corresponding spending reductions or revenue increases. This bill also provides Congress a 5 year exemption from these pay-go…
Contributed by Paul J. Welk, Esq.
412.594.5536, pwelk@tuckerlaw.com
In a letter dated January 27, 2010, the American Medical Association, American Veterinary Medical Association, American Osteopathic Association and American Dental Association wrote to the Federal Trade Commission ("FTC") asking that the FTC make it clear that in light of a recent court decision, the Red Flags…
New Data Bank Regulations Implement
Social Security Act §1921 – MMPPA §5(h)
The Medicare and Medicaid Program Protection Act (MMPPA) added Soc. Sec. §1921. This law expanded state licensure reporting obligations to match those already in place for the Healthcare Integrity and Protection Data Bank (HIPDB), which became active in 1999. These regulations will make reporting …
The Department of Health and Human Services has published proposed regulations for the National Practitioner Data Bank (NPDB). The new regulations are intended to incorporate Section 1921 of the Social Security Act, which was enacted as part of the Medicare and Medicaid Patient and Program Protection Act of 1987 (MMPPA).
These proposed regulations were first…
Contributed by Scott R. Leah, Esq.
sleah@tuckerlaw.com, 412.594.5551
In a recent case, several physicians challenged the ability of a medical practice to restrict their ability to practice medicine in accordance with a noncompetition agreement that they had signed. The physicians argued that the agreements were void as they violated state law on restricting the ability…
The case of Cowell v. Good Samaritan Community Health Care, a state court case in Washington, provides guidance on two of the four elements of HCQIA immunity, i.e. that the action was reasonably taken in the furtherance of quality health care and the necessary substance to establish a reasonable investigation.
Dr. Cowell raised an…
The stalled healthcare reform initiative leaves the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule problem of the Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) imposed 21.5% reduction as a stand alone separate issue. The physician fee schedule decrease was postponed for 2 months by an Obama addition to a defense approriation bill, with the expectation that a long term solution would…
The Health Information Technology for Clinical Health Act (the "HITECH" Act) provides economic incentive for the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology and qualified Electronic Health Record systems ("EHR"s). A physician, other professional, or hospital shall be deemed to be a meaningful EHR user if:
1) Certified EHR technology is used in a…
In Bansal vs. Mount Carmel Health Systems, Inc., an Ohio state appellate court ruled that the hospital had failed to prove that documents were protected by Ohio’s statutory peer review privilege (Ohio Rev. Code § 2305.25), and reversed a trial court summary judgment decision. Dr. Girraj K. Bansal was removed from the hospital’s call schedule, and…
