Compliance

Published on: June 10, 2016

CMS Implements HHA Pre-Claim Review Demonstration

On June 8, 2016, CMS finalized its plan for the implementation of a 3-year “demonstration” of Medicare pre-claim review for home health services. The trial will be carried out in 5 states: Florida, Illinois, Massachusetts, Michigan and Texas—all of which CMS terms as having “high incidences of fraud and improper payments” with regard to home health services. When CMS released the plan proposal in February, it was met with negative feedback from providers and Congress during the comment period, but CMS decided to go forward regardless, and it is important for home health agencies (HHAs) to adapt to the new requirements or else risk penalties or denial of payments.

According to the Department of Health and Human Services, 59% of home health service payments in 2015 were improper, up 41.7% from 2013’s improper payment rate of 17.3%. CMS hopes that pre-claim reviews will cut down on incorrect payments, not only caused by fraud, but also due to more prevalent causes such as insufficient documentation to support the medical necessity of the services, which is cited by CMS as the largest cause of erroneous funding.

The demonstration will require HHAs to submit pre-claim review requests to Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs). These requests will include the same documentation normally provided to prove that the billed services meet the standards of Medicare reasonability and medical necessity, only submitted prior to the filing of the final claim. The HHA should begin treatment of the patient while awaiting a determination on the pre-claim filing. The HHA should submit the pre-claim review request after the Request for Anticipated Payment (RAP) is processed and within thirty (30) days of the first treatment provided to the patient, and the request should be submitted before the final claim is submitted for payment. According to CMS, MACs “will make every effort” to issue a decision on a pre-claim review request within ten (10) business days for an initial request and twenty (20) business days for a resubmitted request following a non-affirmative decision. When a pre-claim request is approved, the HHA will be given a unique pre-claim tracking number which the HHA must submit with the claim itself to assure full and proper reimbursement.

Published on: February 23, 2016

OIG Advisory Opinion Examines Radiology Arrangement Regarding Transcription Fees Paid to Third Party

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The Department of Health and Human Services’ Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently released OIG Advisory Opinion No. 15-15, in which the OIG determined that an arrangement involving an acute care hospital (“Hospital”), radiology practice and family medicine clinic (“Clinic”) would not generate prohibited remuneration under section 1129B(b) of the Social Security Act, the Federal anti-kickback statute (“AKS”).

Under the arrangement, the Clinic refers patients and certain diagnostic tests to the Hospital, and thus the Clinic’s physicians are referral sources for the Hospital. The radiology practice contracts with the Hospital to supervise radiology services and provide professional interpretations of all radiologic imaging taken at the Hospital, and members of the radiology practice can influence referrals to the Hospital. The Clinic includes technologists who provide radiologic imaging services for the Clinic’s patients, and the Clinic transmits the resulting images to the radiology practice to interpret the images and is thus a referral source for the radiology practice. The radiology practice’s radiologists interpret the images and dictate reports, but send the dictated reports to the Hospital and the Hospital’s employees transcribe the reports on behalf of the radiologists, who send the final reports back to the Clinic. The radiology practice pays the Hospital a “flat rate per line of transcription” fee that is fair market value for the service, and the Clinic pays no portion of any transcription cost. The Clinic bills third-party payors, including Medicare and Medicaid, for the technical component, and the radiology practice bills these payors for the professional component of the radiology services. The OIG also noted that the Hospital is located in a sparsely populated region, the Clinic is in a rural community in that region, and that the radiology practice is the only radiology practice within a 100-mile radius of the Clinic or Hospital.

Crucial to the OIG’s finding, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) Medicare Claims Processing Manual provides that with regards to the professional component of a radiology service, the interpretation of the diagnostic procedure includes a written report. Further, CMS advised the OIG that transcription costs are considered indirect expenses under the methodology establishing resource-based practice expense relative value units (RVUs), meaning that such costs are not separately identified but are included in both the professional and technical components for each service. As such, CMS’ position is that when the technical component and professional component are provided and billed by different entities, the two providers may determine who will pay for transcription costs.

Published on: December 7, 2015

CMS Proposes Rule Implementing Discharge Planning Requirements

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) recently announced a proposed rule primarily aimed at discharge planning requirements for hospitals and other service providers, including home health agencies (HHAs).

As part of the Improving Medicare Post-Acute Care Transformation Act of 2014 (IMPACT), hospitals, other inpatient facilities, and HHAs are required to develop an individual discharge plan for each patient based on a variety of factors, including individual patient needs. The proposed CMS rule would require these facilities and providers to develop discharge plans for patients within 24 hours of either admission or registration, as well as require that those plans be completed before the patient is discharged or transferred to another facility. In addition, providers and facilities would be required to provide discharge instructions to patients, enact a medication reconciliation process, and provide medical records to another facility if the patient is transferred.

As it specifically relates to HHAs, the proposed rule intends to impose several requirements that will affect HHA’s processes for discharging or transferring patients. CMS explained that its purpose for the rule is to “…better prepare patients and caregivers to be active participants in self-care” and to “…focus on person-centered care to increase patient-participation in post-discharge care decision making.” Examples of the proposals that CMS believes will help them reach these goals include, requiring the physician responsible for the home health plan of care to be involved in the ongoing establishment of the discharge plan, require that the discharge plan address the patient’s goals and treatment preferences, require that the evaluation be included in the clinical record and all relevant patient information available to or generated by the HHA to be incorporated into the discharge plan to facilitate its implementation. HHAs and other entities affected by the proposed rule must submit their comments on the proposals by January 4, 2016.

Published on: September 25, 2015

Florida Hospital District Settles False Claims Act Allegations for $69.5 Million

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) recently announced a $69.5 million settlement with the North Broward Hospital District (the “District”) arising out of allegations that the District violated the federal Stark law and False Claims Act by entering into improper financial relationships with employed physicians.

The lawsuit alleged that the District provided compensation to nine employed physicians that exceeded fair market value for the physicians’ services, and instead rewarded the physicians for their referrals of patients to the District. The compensation arrangements were alleged to violate the federal Stark law, which prohibits physician referrals of Medicare and Medicaid services to entities with which the physician has a financial relationship, unless an exception applies. Stark exceptions related to physician compensation and employment arrangements require, in addition to other requirements, that the physician’s compensation is consistent with fair market value and not determined in a manner that takes into account the volume or value of the physician’s referrals. By submitting claims pursuant to referrals that violated the Stark law, the District also submitted claims in violation of the False Claims Act.

The lawsuit against the District was originally filed by a whistleblower pursuant to the qui tam provisions of the False Claims Act, which allow private individuals to sue on behalf of the government and share in the recovery. The whistleblower in this case brought the lawsuit after the District offered to employ him under terms that he believed may violate the Stark law. The DOJ announced that the whistleblower will receive over $12 million for his role in the case. The DOJ also announced that the recovery marks another achievement for the Health Care Fraud Prevention and Enforcement Action Team (HEAT) initiative, which is a partnership between the U.S. Attorney General and U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Resources that has been instrumental in the government’s recovery of $16 billion from fraud in the federal health care programs since 2009.

Published on: July 16, 2015

U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit Upholds $237 Million Judgment Against Toumey Healthcare System

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

On July 2, 2015, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit upheld a $237 million verdict against Toumey Healthcare System (“Toumey) for violations of the federal Stark law (“Stark”) and, consequently, the federal False Claims Act. The verdict marks the latest decision in the government’s longstanding legal battle against Toumey, a community hospital in South Carolina, and serves as a reminder to healthcare providers of the significant liability that can result from compensation arrangements that fail to comply with Stark’s safe harbor requirements.

In this case, the lower court determined that Toumey entered into part-time employment agreements with physicians that violated Stark. The agreements violated Stark’s limitations on physician compensation arrangements by varying with, or taking into account, the volume or value of the physicians’ referrals to the hospital. Under the False Claims Act, claims submitted for payment arising out of referrals prohibited by Stark constitute false claims, and subject providers to treble damages. In this case, the jury found that Toumey knowingly submitted 21,730 false claims, which amounted to $39.3 million in Medicare payments. The court awarded treble damages as well as other penalties.

The Fourth Circuit’s decision analyzed Toumey’s argument that since Toumey relied upon the advice of lawyers in determining that the compensation arrangements were permissible under Stark, Toumey could not have knowingly violated the False Claims Act. In rejecting this argument, the Fourth Circuit highlighted the fact that Toumey consulted with multiple attorneys, one of which raised serious concerns about the compensation arrangements, and that Toumey effectively lawyer-shopped for legal opinions that approved the employment contracts. Accordingly, the case should provide notice to providers to proceed with caution if they are contemplating obtaining multiple legal opinions in order to determine that an arrangement is compliant with health care fraud and abuse laws because of how the opinions may be scrutinized in hindsight.

Published on: July 9, 2015

Proposed Rule Shifts Medicaid Managed Care Enrollment Function to States

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

On June 1, 2015, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a proposed rule revising the Medicaid managed care regulations. One of the key components of the proposed rule is the revision to the states’ responsibilities relating to the screening and enrollment of network providers of managed care organizations (MCOs), prepaid inpatient health plans (PIHPs) and prepaid ambulatory health plans (PAHPs).

Specifically, the proposed rule provides that the state must enroll all network providers of MCOs, PIHPs and PAHPS (collectively, managed care entities (MCEs)) that are not already enrolled with the state to provide services to Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) beneficiaries. The provisions would apply to all providers that order, refer or render health services in the context of Medicaid managed care to ensure these providers are appropriately screened and enrolled. As stated by CMS, the requirements contained in the proposed rule are to “ensure that there are no ‘safe havens’ for providers who, though unable to enroll in Medicaid FFS programs, shift participation from managed care plan to manage care plan to avoid detection.”

While the screening and enrollment of network providers is currently a role performed by the MCE, CMS believes transferring this function to the state will eliminate the need for each MCE to perform duplicative screening activities. However, the proposed rule would not prevent the MCEs from carrying out their own provider screening beyond those performed by the state. In addition, the proposed system would enable states to apply the risk classification protocols to all providers that furnish services to managed care or Medicaid FFS beneficiaries, in which screened providers would be categorized as “limited,” “moderate” or “high” risk, permitting site visits for moderate and high risk providers.

Published on: May 19, 2015

Senate Finance Committee Examines Medicare Appeals Backlog

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

On April 28, 2015, the U.S. Senate Finance Committee held a hearing to address the rising Medicare appeals claims backlog. At the hearing, Nancy Griswold, Chief Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) at the Office of Medicare Hearings and Appeals (OMHA), blamed the backlog on a lack of funding and an unprecedented amount of appeals. ALJ Griswold stated that the average processing time for each claim has soared to 550 days, more than quadrupling over the past five years. There are currently over 500,000 Medicare appeals pending review.

While appeals continue to stack up, OMHA’s budget was increased from $69 million to $82.3 million over the past fiscal year (FY). Additionally, OMHA’s staff has expanded from 492 employees to 514 employees for the same FY. However, ALJ Griswold claimed that this boost in resources is still not enough. In FY 2013, OMHA received 700,000 claims, which represents an astonishing increase from the 60,000 claims received just two years prior. Despite the staggering amount of claims, only 60 officers are assigned to handle cases.

Although Senate Finance Committee Chairman Orrin Hatch acknowledged the importance of preventing improper Medicare payments, he emphasized the seriousness of the backlog is due to the “insurmountable increase in appeals.” Senator Hatch also noted that 60 percent of appeals are found in favor of defendants, and questioned how initial decisions are being made and whether providers are facing undue burdens.

Published on: April 28, 2015

Proposed Stage 3 Meaningful Use Rules

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

On Friday March 20, 2015, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS“) announced the release of the new Stage 3 meaningful use proposed rules. Concurrently, the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (“ONC”) released its new EHR certification requirements, which are linked to its previously released interoperability roadmap. CMS says that the new rules “will give providers additional flexibility, make the program simpler, and drive interoperability among electronic health records, and increase the focus on patient outcomes to improve care.”

With the announcement of the new rules came the release of the two proposals: one outlining the Stage 3 meaningful use requirements for hospitals and providers and one outlining the new EHR certification requirements. The proposed Stage 3 meaningful use rule is intended to specify the meaningful use criteria that eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals must meet in order to qualify for Medicare and Medicaid EHR incentive payments and avoid downward adjustments under Medicare for Stage 3 of the EHR incentive program. According to the summary of the proposed rule, it would continue to encourage submission of clinical quality measure (“CQM”) data for all providers where feasible in 2017, propose to require the electronic submission of CQMs where feasible in 2018, and establish requirements to transition the program to a single stage for meaningful use. Also, the Stage 3 proposed rule, according to CMS, would change the EHR reporting period so that all providers would report under a full calendar year timeline with a limited exception under the Medicaid EHR Incentive Program for providers demonstrating meaningful use for the first time.

In the proposed rule regarding EHR certification requirements, CMS introduces a new edition of certification criteria, proposes a new 2015 Edition Base EHR definition, and proposes to modify the ONC Health IT Certification Program “to make it open and accessible to more types of health IT and health IT that supports various care and practice settings.” It would also establish the capabilities and specify the related standards and implementation specifications that Certified EHR Technology (“CEHRT”) would need to include to, at a minimum, support the achievement of meaningful use by eligible professionals, eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals under the Medicare and Medicaid EHR Incentive Programs when such edition is required for use under these programs.

Published on: April 17, 2015

FDA Gives Finalized Guidance on Medical Device Data Systems, Mobile Apps, and Medical Image Storage and Communications Devices

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued non-binding guidance on February 9, 2015 finalizing its position on regulatory compliance of medical device data systems (MDDS), medical image storage and communications devices and mobile medical applications. In its recently issued guidance, the FDA explained that it will not enforce compliance with the regulatory controls that apply to MDDS, medical image storage devices and medical image communications devices because the devices pose a low risk to the patients and play an important role in the advancement of digital health care. Under FDA regulations, MDDS is defined as hardware or software that electronically transfers or stores medical device data, electronically converts medical device data from one format to another, or electronically displays medical device data. A medical image storage device stores and retrieves medical images and a medical image communication device electronically transfers medical image data between medical devices.

As a result of the FDA’s position, manufacturers of MDDS or medical storage and communication devices will not have to register with the FDA, submit to pre-market review or post-market reporting, and can avoid quality system regulation, thereby saving manufacturers time and money. The FDA further stated that it will not enforce compliance with pre-market notification for MDDS, or medical image storage and communication devices that would have otherwise required such notification under the regulations.

Additionally, on February 9, 2015 the FDA issued non-binding guidance specific to mobile apps. The issued guidance contains three appendices that explain and provide examples of apps that are within FDA enforcement, outside of FDA enforcement, and those over which the FDA abstains from enforcing the regulations. The first appendix gives examples of apps that are not “devices” under FDA regulations; the second appendix gives examples of apps that may meet the definition of “device,” but but regulations will not be enforced as the apps are considered low risk to patients and users; and the third appendix gives examples of what the FDA considers “mobile medical apps” over which the FDA does intend to enforce its regulations. The FDA defined “mobile medical apps” as apps that meet the definition of a “device” and are intended to be used as an accessory to a regulated device or are intended to transform a mobile platform into a device. In its guidance on mobile apps, the FDA stated many mobile devices do not fall under its definition of a “device” in 21 USC § 321(h) and are therefore not regulated by the FDA. The FDA did, however, strongly recommend that manufacturers of mobile apps that may qualify as a “device” follow the FDA’s Quality System regulation in developing and designing apps. Lastly, while the FDA acknowledged that many current mobile apps do not constitute “devices” under FDA regulations, or are simply not regulated by the FDA, current and new mobile medical devices are subject to FDA enforcement.

Published on: April 3, 2015

CMS Offers Clarification to HHA Contradictory Guidance

by Wachler & Associates, P.C.

On March 18, 2015, Wachler & Associates attorneys, Andrew Wachler and Jessica Forster, highlighted contradictory guidance released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) relating to home health agencies (“HHAs”) face-to-face encounter documentation. When the calendar year (“CY”) 2015 Home Health Final Rule (“Final Rule”) went into effect on January 1, 2015, new rules for HHAs face-to-face encounter documentation were implemented. Most prominently, the revised Final Rule eliminated the brief narrative requirement in almost all cases for home health face-to-face encounter documentation. Although the brief narrative requirement was removed, CMS mandated that the certifying physician’s medical record include all required elements for the physician certification. Additionally, CMS stated in the Final Rule that a HHA may communicate with and provide information to the certifying physician about the patient’s homebound status and need for skilled care and the certifying physician could incorporate the information into his or her medical record for the patient.

In two separate CMS conference calls, representatives provided contradictory information with regards to physician documentation responsibilities. The first conference call held by CMS properly reinforced the Final Rule’s statement that HHAs could provide information to the certifying physician that the physician could incorporate into his or her medical record (a) if the physician signed/dated the documentation and (b) if the physician’s own entries corroborated the information from the HHA. The Final Rule and the first conference call both said that this information from the HHA would be considered by medical reviewers to determine if the certification requirements were met. It was only during the second conference call, on March 11, that CMS contradicted prior guidance by stating that the physician’s own documentation must meet the certification requirements and that medical reviewers were advised of this instruction. The CMS representative reiterated that even if a certifying physician signs and dates a HHA’s documentation that does not mean that the documentation becomes part of the physician’s medical record. Wachler & Associates reached out to CMS for clarification.

On March 23, 2015, CMS clarified the contradiction. In its reply, CMS stated that the patient’s medical record must support the certification of eligibility and documentation in the patient’s medical record shall be used as a basis for certification of home health eligibility. Importantly, CMS also noted that reviewers will consider HHA documentation if it is incorporated into the patient’s medical record and signed off by the certifying physician.