In November 2018, CMS issued its final rule for the Medicare Physician Fee Schedule. In a previous article, we had summarized the changes to E&M coding that CMS had proposed in its July 27, 2018 proposed rule. In this final rule, CMS delayed until 2021 any changes to reimbursement for […]
Health Law Alert
OCR Resolution Agreement Flags Continuing Concerns Over Privacy and the Media
on Monday, 5 November 2018 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
While the volume of Resolution Agreements coming out of OCR in 2018 have been significantly less than in prior years (five thus far in 2018 versus 10 for the same period in 2017), with each Resolution Agreement, OCR continues to send very strong messages to covered entities and there are […]
Elimination of Productivity Requirements for Iowa Federally Qualified Health Centers
on Monday, 5 November 2018 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On September 28, 2018, the Iowa Department of Human Services issued an informational letter (Informational Letter No. 1953-MC-FFS-D) to all Federally Qualified Health Centers (“FQHCs”) that eliminated the productivity requirements that had previously applied to FQHCs in Iowa. The change is effective for cost reporting periods ending on or after […]
First Release of Quality Reporting Data (QRP) About Skilled Nursing Facilities on Nursing Home Compare
on Monday, 5 November 2018 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On October 24, 2018, CMS released “inaugural” QRP data on Nursing Home Compare regarding skilled nursing facilities (SNFs). This release is in accordance with Section 1899B(g)(1) of the Social Security Act requiring CMS to publicly report SNF provider performance on selected quality measures. Reporting of certain quality measures is also […]
New Fraud Risk Indicator on the OIG Website
on Wednesday, 3 October 2018 in
Health Law Alert: Kristin N. Lindgren, Editor
On September 27, 2018, a new post on the OIG website www.oig.hhs.gov educates providers about the Fraud “Risk Spectrum” which categorizes risk from low to the high as follows: the highest risk is program exclusion, followed by the high risk of heightened scrutiny, the medium risk of imposition of a […]
