In September the Joint Commission announced that it will begin to accredit patient-centered medical home models for physicians by July 2011. A medical home model is a method to deliver care that is based on the ability to demonstrate evidence-based protocols, self-management education and care coordination with specialists and other…
The Office of the Inspector General recently released the Work Plan for fiscal year (FY) 2011. The Work Plan describes areas the OIG will focus on in the upcoming year; something all practitioners concerned with compliance should pay attention to. Medical devices, radiation therapy quality and safety, and an expanded…
On October 4, 2010 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published a letter that was sent to state Medicaid directors as part of a series of letters that will provide guidance for the implementation of provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), including the expansion…
The Office of the Inspector General recently released Advisory Opinions 10-20 and 10-21. Advisory Opinion 10-20 deals with a radiology group seeking to pre-authorize insurers free of charge for referring physician groups. These requests for pre-authorization would be handled before the requestor would be providing the services. Additionally the radiology group…
On October 8, U.S. District Judge George Steeh refused to grant an injunction that would prevent the implementation of the federal health reforms enacted through the Affordable Care Act. Judge Steeh also dismissed several substantive portions of the suit, determining that Congress did not exceed its constitutional authority by requiring…
The Office of the Inspector General (OIG) recently released Advisory Opinion 10-17 which deals with donations made as part of a private settlement agreement stemming from a Certificate of Need (CON) dispute. These donations, made to programs, which provide services to children and families, were deemed not to violate the…
Last week the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued two Advisory Opinions addressing proposed programs that could potentially implicate the anti-kickback statute and the imposition of civil monetary penalties (CMPs). The first OIG Advisory Opinion, 10-18, analyzed a proposed program by a health system which involved post-surgical free hotel accommodations…
On September 10, 2010, CMS released draft form CMS-10343, which will be used by state Medicaid plans to show that they have contracted with a RAC auditor. The forms are used in connection with preparation for Medicaid RAC expansion and include criteria related to payments to the Medicaid RAC and…
On September 23, 2010 the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) published the Medicare self-referral protocol (SRDP). The SRDP was established by sec. 6409 of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) which required the Secretary of Health and Human Services to establish a Medicare self-referral program that affords providers of…
Recently the RAC for Region A, DCS Healthcare (DCS), added new issues for medical necessity reviews to its list of approved issues. DCS approved nine medical necessity issues, including Respiratory (limited to MS-DRG 190, 191, and 192), Gastro Intestinal Disorders (limited to MS-DRGs 391 and 393) and Diseases and Disorders…