Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 11 (March 23, 2020)
- There are signs of life to the national hospital reviews of short stays and high-weighted MS-DRGs (HWDRGs). A CMS spokesperson said Avar Consulting, a...more
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. 6 (February 17, 2020) -
Tenet Healthcare Corp. and an affiliated hospital, Desert Regional Medical Center, have agreed to pay $1.41 million to settle False Claims Act (FCA)...more
2/19/2020
/ Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Hospitals ,
Kickbacks ,
Medicaid ,
Medical Equipment ,
Medicare ,
Physicians ,
Settlement ,
TRICARE ,
Unnecessary Medical Procedures ,
Whistleblowers
Report on Medicare Compliance 29, no. 5 (February 10, 2020)
- David Laufer, the former chief of the Prosthetics and Orthotics Department at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, was charged...more
2/18/2020
/ Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Failure To Disclose ,
False Accusations ,
False Statements ,
FBI ,
Fraud ,
Gifts ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Medical Supplies ,
Medicare ,
Patient Privacy Rights ,
Retaliation ,
Whistleblowers ,
White Collar Crimes
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) -
- The HHS Office of Inspector General has updated its Work Plan, which includes an item on early discharges from inpatient rehabilitation facilities to home...more
1/27/2020
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Fraud ,
OIG ,
Psychiatrists ,
Settlement ,
TRICARE ,
Whistleblowers
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 29, no. 1 (January 13, 2020) -
The Department of Justice (DOJ) said Jan. 7 it has filed a False Claims Act lawsuit against Community Health Network, an integrated health care system in central...more
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. 44 (December 16, 2019) -
One way to find out whether compliance and integrity have seeped into the bones of an organization is asking people who would know. There may be a compliance...more
12/16/2019
/ Attorney General ,
Audits ,
C-Suite Executives ,
Compliance ,
Compliance Monitoring ,
Corporate Integrity Agreement ,
Corporate Monitoring ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Executive Compensation ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Incentives ,
Medicare ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Stark Law
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 42 (November 25, 2019)
- In a surprising CMS memo that just surfaced, top CMS attorneys echo the sentiments of the Department of Justice about the limits of enforcement actions based...more
11/26/2019
/ Azar v Allina Health Services ,
Comment Period ,
Compliance ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Durable Medical Equipment ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Fee-for-Service ,
Guidance Documents ,
Home Health Care ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
Notice and Comment ,
Payment Rates
Report on Medicare Compliance 28, no. 41 (November 18, 2019) -
- North Carolina physician Damian Brezinski and his medical group, Wilmington Health, agreed to pay $244,000 to settle false claims allegations in connection...more
11/18/2019
/ Compliance ,
Conflicts of Interest ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Health Clinics ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Physician-Owned Distributors ,
Settlement ,
TRICARE ,
Unnecessary Medical Procedures
Report on Medicare Compliance Volume 28, Number 40. (November 11, 2019) -
- In a new Medicare compliance review, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) said Angels Care Home Health in Salina, Kansas, didn’t comply with...more
11/15/2019
/ Change of Ownership ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Enforcement Actions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Information Technologies ,
Health Insurance ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Home Health Care ,
Inpatient Prospective Payment System (IPPS) ,
Medical Insurance Codes ,
Medicare ,
NIST ,
OCR ,
OIG ,
ONC ,
Security Risk Assessments
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. 39 (November 4, 2019) -
? The former CEO of Putnam County Memorial Hospital in Unionville, Missouri, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud, the Department...more
11/13/2019
/ Blood Tests ,
CEOs ,
Compliance ,
Criminal Convictions ,
Department of Justice (DOJ) ,
Fraud and Abuse ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Beneficiaries ,
Patient Safety ,
Physicians
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
California physician Donald Woo Lee was found guilty Oct. 17 for his role in providing medically unnecessary procedures to Medicare beneficiaries, upcoding, and repackaging single-use catheters for re-use, the Department of...more
10/22/2019
/ Coding ,
Consent Order ,
Criminal Prosecution ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Fraud ,
Guilty Pleas ,
Healthcare Fraud ,
Home Health Care ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part B ,
OIG ,
Physicians ,
Risk Controls ,
U.S. Attorney ,
Unnecessary Medical Procedures ,
Work Plans
- Fresenius Medical Care North America Inc. has agreed to pay $5.2 million to settle allegations that it tested dialysis patients for Hepatitis B surface antigen more often than medically necessary and billed Medicare for the...more
10/15/2019
/ Civil Monetary Penalty ,
Enforcement Actions ,
False Billing ,
False Claims Act (FCA) ,
Federal Contractors ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
Medical Necessity ,
Medicare ,
OCR ,
Settlement Agreements
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