Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 43 (December 7, 2020) -
In the 2021 final Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) rule, CMS made both permanent and temporary changes to supervision, telehealth and other provisions,...more
12/8/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Final Rules ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
MPFS ,
Physicians ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Supervision ,
Telehealth
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 42 (November 23, 2020)
- CMS said Nov. 16 that the Medicare fee-for-service improper payment rate dropped to 6.27% in FY 2020 from 7.25% last year, although CMS had to “modify”...more
12/1/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fee-for-Service ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
HIPAA Violations ,
Medical Records ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
OCR ,
OIG ,
Right of Access ,
Settlement
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 42 (November 23, 2020) -
Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) will be coming to 911 hospitals for overpayments caused by unreported manufacturer credits for recalled or...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 39 (November 2, 2020) -
Medtronic USA Inc., a medical device maker, has agreed to pay $8.1 million to settle allegations it violated the False Claims Act by paying kickbacks to induce...more
11/9/2020
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Home Health Agencies ,
Home Health Care ,
Kickbacks ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Settlement ,
Telecommunications ,
Telehealth
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 39 (November 2, 2020) -
CMS said Oct. 28 that Medicare will pay hospitals extra when they treat inpatients with drugs or biologicals approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA)...more
11/6/2020
/ Add-ons ,
Biologics ,
CARES Act ,
CCJR ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Interim Final Rules (IFR) ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Advantage ,
Medicare Beneficiaries ,
Medicare Part B ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Outpatient Services ,
Payment Rates ,
Pharmacies ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Vaccinations ,
Virus Testing
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 35 (October 5, 2020) -
A California physician on Sept. 18 received a letter from a Medicare administrative contractor (MAC) that ordered him to stop sharing pricing information about...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 28 (August 3, 2020)
- The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) has given the green light to a plan by a charitable organization to “purchase or receive donations of unpaid medical...more
8/17/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Charitable Donations ,
Charitable Organizations ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Debt Forgiveness ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Medical Coding ,
Medical Debt ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Physician Payments ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Relief Measures
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 25 (July 13, 2020)
- Ophthalmic Consultants PA in Sarasota, Florida, agreed to pay $4.8 million to settle false claims allegations that it billed Medicare and other federal payers...more
7/21/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Guidance Update ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Billing Codes ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Settlement ,
Telemedicine ,
Work Plans
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 25 (July 13, 2020) -
When a physician’s telehealth visit with a Medicare patient on FaceTime cut out after five minutes, they shifted to an audio-only visit, with the physician and...more
7/20/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Controlled Substances Act ,
Electronic Prescribing ,
Home Health Care ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Provider Payments ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Telehealth ,
Work Plans
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 24 (June 29, 2020) -
CMS said June 23 it has created an Office of Burden Reduction and Health Informatics to “unify the agency’s efforts to reduce regulatory and administrative burden...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 23 (June 22, 2020):
- CMS has created a new point of origin (PoO) code, G, to indicate a transfer from a designated disaster alternative care site (ACS) because of changes in connection...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 21 (June 8, 2020) -
The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its Semiannual Report to Congress, which covers Oct. 1, 2019, through March 31, 2020. During this period, OIG...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 18 (May 11, 2020) -
The gyms and dorm rooms at Sonoma State University in California are an alternate care site for St. Joseph Health System in Santa Rosa and other health care...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 12 (March 30, 2020)
A federal court on March 24 ordered CMS to let Medicare patients “challenge decisions by hospitals” to change their status from inpatients to observation, dating...more
4/7/2020
/ Administrative Procedure Act ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Class Action ,
Compliance ,
Due Process ,
Inpatient Billing ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Act ,
Medicare Beneficiaries ,
Medicare Outpatient Observation Notice (MOON) ,
Medicare Part A ,
Right To Appeal ,
Skilled Nursing Facility
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 10 (March 16, 2020) -
? Millennium Physicians Association PLLC, which owns two sleep centers in the Houston area, has paid $1,248,964 to settle false claims allegations over sleep...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 10 (March 16, 2020) -
Even as it warned hospitals they must comply with the screening and transfer requirements of the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA) in the...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 7 (February 24, 2020)
- Guardian Elder Care Holdings Inc., which operates more than 50 skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) in Pennsylvania, Ohio and West Virginia, and its related...more
2/28/2020
/ Acute Facilities ,
CCJR ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Elder Care ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
MACs ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Provider Payments ,
Recoupment ,
Settlement ,
Skilled Nursing Facility ,
Unnecessary Medical Procedures ,
Work Plans
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 5 (February 10, 2020) -
At least two Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) have set their sights on observation services, and there may be more to come. WPS is auditing...more
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 4 (February 3, 2020) -
? Central Coast Inpatient Consultants Inc. in California has agreed to pay $750,000 in a civil monetary penalty settlement with the HHS Office of Inspector...more
2/6/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
HCPCS ,
Health Care Providers ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Billing Privileges ,
Medicare Fraud ,
Medicare Provider Agreements ,
OIG ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Restitution ,
Settlement
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 3 (January 27, 2020) -
Mission, Texas, rheumatologist Jorge Zamora-Quezada, M.D., was found guilty by a jury Jan. 15 for his part in a $325 million heath fraud scheme in which he...more
1/30/2020
/ Bodily Injury ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Chiropractors ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Emotional Injury Claims ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
False Statements ,
Final Rules ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medicare ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pain Management ,
Physicians
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 2 (January 20, 2020) -
CMS has agreed to pay a physical therapy practice $55,000 in a December settlement that’s at the intersection of claims and enrollment, and again runs into the...more
1/24/2020
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Enrollment ,
MACs ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Billing Privileges ,
Medicare Program Integrity Manual (MPIM) ,
PECOS ,
Physical Therapists ,
Provider Payments ,
Remedies ,
Retroactive Application ,
Settlement ,
Transitional Arrangements
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 44 (December 16, 2019) -
? Korunda Medical LLC, a Florida-based company that provides primary care and interventional pain management, has agreed to pay $85,000 to settle a potential...more
12/17/2019
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Corporate Integrity Agreement ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Care Violations ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medical Necessity ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Overpayment ,
Provider Payments ,
Right of Access ,
Settlement
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 40 (November 11, 2019) -
CMS has given the green light to prior authorization for five types of procedures in an attempt to control “unnecessary increases” in these procedures as part...more
11/14/2019
/ Ambulatory Surgery Centers ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Compliance ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Inpatient Billing ,
Medical Insurance Codes ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Appeals ,
MPFS ,
OMB ,
Opioid ,
Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) ,
Outpatient Services ,
Physician Assistants ,
Physician Fee Schedule ,
Physicians ,
Prior Authorization ,
Transparency
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 38 (Oct. 28, 2019) -
- Doctors Hospital of Augusta in Georgia agreed to pay $180,000 in a civil monetary penalty settlement over alleged violations of the Emergency Medical Treatment...more
10/28/2019
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
EMTALA ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Federal Health Care Programs (FHCP) ,
Fraud Risk Indicator ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Integrity Policies ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Request For Information ,
Statutory Violations ,
Value-Based Care ,
Work Plans
Starting Oct. 1, per diem payments to skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) will be more generous on the first few days of a Medicare beneficiary’s stay, and then drop as the stay continues. That’s one of the changes under the...more