On September 30, 2010, the Arkansas Supreme Court held that Baptist Health, a private, charitable, nonprofit corporation, may not impose an Economic Conflict of Interest Policy (Policy). In this case, “the Policy mandates the denial of initial and renewed professional staff appointments or clinical privileges at any Baptist hospital to any practitioner who, directly or […]
Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it launched its new HealthCare.gov Facebook page. According to HHS Secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, “HealthCare.gov on Facebook offers Facebook users a new tool to understand and stay informed about the Affordable Care Act…This new page is another resource that people can use to learn about and discuss health care […]
On September 21, The Hill and the American College of Cardiology (“ACC”), hosted a discussion with Sen. Tom Coburn (R-OK), Rep. Brian Baird (D-WA), Dr. Ralph Brindis–the President of ACC–Dr. Jack Lewin, and Dr. John Tooker–the CEO of American College of Physicians (“ACP”) to discuss patient payment reform. While the two congressmen represent opposite parties, […]
Under the proposed Medicare physician fee schedule rule (the “Proposed MPFS”) released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) on June 25th, physician reimbursement rates would decrease by 6.1% as of January 1, 2011. On the day that CMS issued the Proposed MPFS, the 21% cut in physician reimbursement was deferred until at […]
Compliance continues to be a hot topic given the continued increase in enforcement, audits and other aspects of health care reform. On May 7, 2010, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) posted on its website an excerpt from a keynote address that the Inspector General for the Department of Health & Human Services recently gave […]
Huping Zhou, a former UCLA Healthcare System cardiothoracic surgeon is the first defendant in the nation to receive a prison sentence for a HIPAA privacy violation. After admitting that he illegally read private electronic medical records of patients and obtained individually identifiable health information without a valid reason, Zhou was sentenced to four months in […]
On Monday, April 6, 2010, CMS updated its RAC website by announcing a series of nationwide calls as detailed below: April 28, 2010, 1:00pm – 2:30pm EST: Nationwide RAC 101 Call, 1-877-251-0301 May 4, 2010, 1:00pm – 2:30pm EST: Nationwide RAC 101 Call for Home Health and Hospice Providers, 1-877-251-0301 May 5, 2010, 1:00pm – […]
On March 15, 2010, the Joint Commission announced revisions to Medical Staff Standard MS.01.01.01 (formerly known as MS.1.20). The revisions are based on the unanimous recommendations of an 18-member expert task force representing the American College of Physicians, American College of Surgeons, American Dental Association, American Hospital Association, American Medical Association, Federation of American Hospitals […]
Rep. Sander Levin, an expert on trade issues, has been tapped to take over the House Ways and Means Committee after Rangel stepped down and Rep. Pete Stark stepped aside. It has been widely reported that concerns by fellow members of the House Ways and Means Committee over Rep. Pete Stark’s politics, background and history […]
Physician reimbursement under the Medicare program will not face a 21% cut, at least not for the next 30 days. Yesterday, on March 2, 2010, the Senate passed the Temporary Extension Act of 2010 (H.R. 4691, 111th Cong. § 5 (2010)), which postponed the effective date of a planned 21% fee reduction for an additional […]
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