CMS released further information Wednesday on its RAC Web site letting healthcare providers know when they can expect RACs to begin auditing. The new “CMS RAC Review Phase-in Strategy,” details different types of reviews and dates when CMS anticipates the reviews will begin in various areas of the country. Click title to read more… The […]
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced that the administration will rescind all or part of three Medicaid regulations that were previously issued and delay the enforcement of a fourth regulation. Each of these rules, in whole or in part, had been subject to Congressional moratoria set to expire on […]
HHS hasn’t released any significant news around HIPAA regulations since its draft guidance on unsecure protected health information April 17, but that does not mean it is time to sit idle. Major regulations surrounding breach notifications on PHRs by the Federal Trade Commission and unsecure PHI by the Department of Health and Human Services are […]
Medicaid providers in California won a legal challenge over program cuts in the case “Maxwell-Jolly v. Independent Living Center of Southern California.” McKnight’s Long Term Care News reports that “The U.S. Supreme Court has let stand a federal appeals court ruling that says California’s Medicaid providers have a right to challenge state cuts to Medi-Cal provider […]
The American Hospital Association released a statement that it is “deeply disappointed and concerned” that the Obama administration has proposed cuts of more than $220 billion to hospitals, in addition to the $41 billion in cuts to Medicare already proposed. Click title to read more… Rich Umbdenstock, AHA’s president and CEO, singled out cuts to […]
Unless hospitals and physicians are held accountable for the cost, quality, and utilization benchmarks achieved by their best-performing peers, healthcare costs won’t be contained, states a white paper by Health CEOs for Health Reform (HC4HR), a coalition of healthcare leaders whose mission is a “willingness to transform their business models to create a more sustainable […]
Fifty-three physicians, healthcare executives, and Medicare beneficiaries were arrested Wednesday in New York City, Miami, and Detroit by the newly expanded federal Medicare Fraud Strike Force. They were charged with submitting more than $50 million in Medicare claims related to unnecessary or fraudulent procedures. Click title to read more… In a joint press conference in […]
Small medical practices provide nearly 75% all ambulatory care in the United States, yet many lack the resources to improve the quality of care delivered or install electronic health records to serve an increasingly diverse patient mix, according to a report released today by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. Click title to read more… […]
The border town of McAllen, Texas wasn’t on the tip of anybody’s tongue before this month. But a few weeks ago, an article in The New Yorker offered it up as exhibit A of all that is wrong with the country’s healthcare system, the ground zero of medicine run amok. Click title to read more… […]