Experts recently squared off on the use of medical websites, and whether they can help keep patients engaged in their care or run the risk of misinforming them about serious medical conditions (and annoy...
Observation stay bill hits CA governor’s desk
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Aug 30, 2016
A bill to inform California Medicare beneficiaries of their hospital observation stay status is awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown (D)’s signature.
Audits of Medicare Advantage plans find rampant overcharging for elderly patients
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Aug 30, 2016
Many Medicare Advantage plans overcharged the federal government for treating older beneficiaries, according to a new report from the Center for Public Integrity.
CMS overpayment rule may bring more whistleblower, false claims cases
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Aug 30, 2016
A rule released earlier this year by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services targeting overpayments may lead to an increase in cases involving the regulation, according to law experts.
Medicare ACOs boosted quality, savings in 2015, CMS reports
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Aug 26, 2016
More than 100 Medicare Accountable Care Organizations qualified for shared savings payments in 2015 by meeting quality performance standards and hitting their savings threshold, according to the Centers...
Providers could face Five-Star sanctions for late PBJ data
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Aug 26, 2016
Nursing homes that fail to submit electronic staffing data by the first required deadline may face sanctions and could see their Five-Star rating suffer as a result, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services...
Feds release draft interoperability standards for health IT
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Aug 25, 2016
The push for interoperability in health information technology continued this week with the release of draft standards for the industry by federal health IT officials.
Time to start clowning around
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Aug 24, 2016
I like the occasional clown — as long as they’re where they’re supposed to be. But when they’re not? Downright terrifying. Then came this new nursing home study to put that line of...
ICD-10 ‘flexibilities’ to expire Oct. 1 as planned
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Aug 24, 2016
A 12-month grace period meant to ease providers’ transition to Medicare ICD-10 will officially come to a close on Oct. 1, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Officials said last week.
Nursing home settlement spurs HHS to investigate small health data breaches
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Aug 23, 2016
A recent case involving a stolen iPhone containing nursing home residents’ medical records has prodded federal officials to place more scrutiny on smaller healthcare data breaches, according to the...