On Tuesday, the Obama Administration announced that it decided to abandon its “mystery shopper” survey. The survey was created as a way to address concerns about the shortage of primary care doctors, a problem that could continue to grow if more than 30 million Americans gain health care coverage as…
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued an advisory opinion stating that a physician recruitment arrangement including a non-competition provision meets the requirements of the physician recruitment exception under the Stark law. The approved non-compete arrangement restricts the physician from establishing, operating, or providing professional medical services…
The Obama administration has labeled the increasing shortage of primary care doctors as a “critical public policy problem.” In an effort to address this issue, the administration intends to assemble a team of “mystery shoppers” to pose as patients, call doctors’ offices, and request appointments in order to see how…
A group of U.S. senators is seeking an inquiry into the expansion and potential abuse of physician-owned distributorships (PODs). PODs are entities that allow doctors to purchase ownership shares in an organization that buys products used in surgery. In separate letters to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS)…
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) are using Comparative Billing Reports as a tool to educate providers about their individual billing practices. Comparative Billing Reports (“CBRs”) show individual providers how their billing patterns for various codes and procedures compare to the state average and the national average for…
On June 8, 2011, the Health Information Technology Policy Committee (“HITPC”) advised the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) to push its deadline for Stage 2 meaningful use requirements to 2014. The current deadline is 2013 for providers who achieve Stage 1 meaningful use requirements in the 2011…
Wachler & Associate’s attorney Amy Fehn, as a member of the ABA’s ACO Task Force, recently participated in the drafting of comments on CMS’ proposed regulations for ACO participation in the Medicare Shared Savings Program. The proposed regulations will govern the way in which ACOs will contract with CMS to…
DCS Healthcare added 11 new approved issues for medical necessity reviews for providers in Region A states. The recently approved new issues may be reviewed for providers in Pennsylvania, the District of Columbia, New Jersey, Delaware, New York, Connecticut, Vermont, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island, excluding Maryland. The…
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has extended the deadline for the submission of the Pioneer ACO Model program letters of intent to June 30, 2011. Additionally, the Application deadline has been extended to August 19, 2011. Applications received from organizations that have not submitted a letter of…
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued a favorable advisory opinion for a Requestor regarding a vaccine reminder program. In February 2011, the Requestor, a manufacturer of pneumococcal bacteria vaccines for immunization of infants and toddlers, expanded a vaccine reminder program to entities…