Large commercial companies have never fared well when offering kickbacks to physicians. Historically, regulators have aggressively pursued such wrongdoers for their attempts to interfere with sound medical judgment. Physicians, on the other hand, have often gone unprosecuted for their involvement in kickback schemes. However, according to the general counsel to the Department of Health and […]
On June 21, 2011, the Office of Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) posted Advisory Opinion No. 11-08. This Opinion addresses possible federal Anti-Kickback Statute sanctions for payments made by a Medicare DME Supplier to a Medicare sleep test provider for storing the Supplier’s PAP equipment and supplies and […]
MedPAC released its highly anticipated proposal calling for a reduction in the use of imaging services, including MRIs, CT scans and nuclear medicine, and, in particular, recommended pre-authorization for medical imaging services as a means to accomplish this objective. The MedPAC report focuses, in particular, on physicians who order an inordinately high volume of imaging […]
In reviewing certain inpatient hospital claims, the RAC for Region B (covering the Midwestern states), CGI, and its subcontractor, PRG Schultz, are now requesting that nursing notes not be included in response to additional documentation requests (“ADRs”). Note that this directive is not consistent across all ADRs, as other ADRs specifically ask for nursing records. […]
The Medical Group Management Association (“MGMA”) recently released the result highlights of the largest physician compensation survey in the United States. The survey is based on 2010 data from 60,000 providers in more than 150 specialties; the publically reported figures focus on 15 specialties. According to the selected specialties data, orthopedic surgeons were the highest […]
In addition to the multitude of auditing activities and programs that exist, the Medicare Carriers/Medicare Administrative Contractors also conduct medical reviews. Like many other auditing programs, these probe reviews are data driven and are conducted for the purpose of validating potential provider billing errors. The process may include either provider or service specific reviews. The […]
The Medical Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) plans to release a recommendation calling for a reduction in the use of imaging services, including MRIs, CT scans and nuclear medicine. MedPAC’s advisory opinion would require some physicians and their patients to obtain pre-approval from Medicare for advanced imaging services. The proposal, if implemented without modification, would apply […]
On Friday, June 3, the American Medical Association (“AMA”) submitted its comments concerning the Accountable Care Organizations (“ACOs”) Proposed Rule (the “Proposed Rule”) to Donald Berwick, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Administrator. The Proposed Rule was issued by CMS on March 31, 2011. In its comments, AMA provided its views and recommendations […]
On May 20, 2011, Ohio governor, John Kasich, signed Ohio House Bill 93 into law. The bill represents an effort by Ohio to strengthen the State’s regulatory framework relating to the prevention of prescription drug abuse. According to the Ohio Department of Health, since 2007, unintentional drug overdoses in the state accounted for more accidental […]
The national health care reform, the implementation of which effectively requires a shift of health insurer spending more heavily towards medical care, is projected to reduce insurance profit margins to approximately 3% to 5%. This is a substantial decline considering these margins historically averaged around 7% to 8%. As a result, major health insurers in […]
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