Joint HHS, Justice efforts recoup $28 billion in Medicare payments
By
John Hall
Mar 19, 2015
The Justice Department announced on Thursday it had captured $3.3 billion from healthcare fraud prosecutions and other deals in 2014, bringing to nearly $28 billion the total amount it has recouped since...
Inspector General blasts agency for ignoring ZPIC scrutiny
By
John Hall
Mar 19, 2015
Ignoring a four-year-old warning to more thoroughly evaluate Medicare auditing contractors is among the pile of unheeded advice that could have saved the Medicare program billions of dollars in recent...
Congress mulls Medicaid-Medicare pay parity, and end of ‘doc fixes’
By
John Hall
Mar 16, 2015
Long-term care providers are closely monitoring two major lawmaking efforts in Washington this week that have both chambers of Congress debating a plan to end annual Medicare cuts and abolish painful “fixes”...
New Medicare ACO to be unveiled soon
By
John Hall
Mar 02, 2015
The government’s top health insurer has announced that providers could get a first look at a new type of Medicare accountable care organization this month. It has been modeled closely after a controversial...
‘Observation status’ provision under further review
By
John Hall
Feb 27, 2015
The American Health Care Association on Thursday applauded a House measure that would inform Medicare beneficiaries of their observation status as hospital inpatient or outpatients. But that might be little...
RAC groups battle provider plea for short-stay payment relief
By
John Hall
Feb 19, 2015
Third-party firms that audit Medicare bills for payment issues are pushing back hard against a hospital association plea for more favorable short-stay reimbursements, adding to the ongoing unwelcome specter...
Also in the news for Monday, February 9
Feb 09, 2015
Regulators OK lung cancer screening for Medicare beneficiaries … Anthem hackers suspected to have accessed personal information, including Social Security numbers …15% of meaningful use Stage...
The Jimmo scorecard and CMS compliance update
By
Steven Littlehale
Nov 25, 2014
In some ways, 2014 has been a monumental year. But it’s not over yet, especially with regard to Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services steps regarding the historic Jimmo settlement agreement signed...
Post-acute partnerships now have become a widespread strategy to reduce hospital readmissions, survey...
By
Tim Mullaney
Oct 03, 2014
Hospital partnerships with post-acute providers can be considered a “key strategy” in reducing readmissions, according to market data gathered by executive advisory service Healthcare Intelligence...
Providers must see clearly before they CHOW down
By
Richard Cheng
Sep 29, 2014
When a skilled nursing facility changes ownership, the change is known in healthcare vernacular as a change of ownership or “CHOW.” Because this could wind up endangering a Medicare provider...