Medicine & Health articles from January 2008

Medicine & Health archives from January 2008

Legislators give docs a happy holiday with 0.5 percent pay raise: but the rule only extends until June 30.(Reimbursement)
January 4, 2008... Physicians who were holding their collective breath for a Medicare pay increase can finally exhale. The Senate and House passed the Medicare, Medicaid and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007 on Dec. 18, replacing the scheduled 10.1 percent...

Poor-performing nursing homes now In CMS' crosshairs: national list to provide public with choices, agency says.(Long-Term Care)
January 4, 2008... Poor-performing nursing homes will undergo stringent enforcement until they make significant improvements or they will be terminated from Medicare or Medicaid. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the national list...

Part D overhaul turns focus to value, comprehensive coverage: price fixation may become the norm.(Part D)
January 4, 2008... Health policy researchers Ruth Lopert, BMed, MMedSc, and Marilyn Moon, PhD, recommended in the Commonwealth Fund-supported study that outcome assessments of the Part D benefit should emphasize data on therapeutic value rather than drug pricing...

New toolkits support safer health care practices: AHRQ promotes ways to help providers and patients.(Resources)
January 4, 2008... In the continuing effort to improve patient safety, the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), part of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS), released 17 toolkits to assist health professionals and patients for effective...

Ante up for accreditation--or lose Medicare payments: deadline disappoints accreditation advocates.(Durable Medical Equipment)
January 4, 2008... Suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS) now have a firm date for mandatory accreditation--and more deadlines are looming. Medicare-certified DMEPOS suppliers with a provider number must achieve...

Cost of care on federal radar screen--again: follow-up study planned.(Hospice)(Report)
January 4, 2008... The cost of hospice care is squarely on the feds' radar screens--and there's a new report to prove it. In a report released Dec. 20, the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) notes that hospice care provided in nursing facilities costs...

Medical house calls not a thing of the past: will the trend catch on?(Trends)(Survey)(Brief article)
January 4, 2008... The American Academy of Home Care Physicians (AAHCP) is alive and well--and out to prove that medical house calls are making a comeback. But physicians knocking on patients' doors need some extra support to make this trend worthwhile. A...

Exercise not just for the body: the right 'workout' enhances memory: aging adults don't have to accept a declining memory as a way of life.(Research & Reports)
January 4, 2008... Use it or lose it, right? Everyone knows that exercise will keep your body running healthier longer. So it shouldn't be a surprise that the same concept may apply to memory. Researchers released initial data to support this idea at the 60th...

Memory glitches don't have to get seniors down: study shows how memory-impaired seniors can improve quality of life.(Research & Reports)
January 4, 2008... Memory lapses that naturally afflict our aging population are frustrating to everyone involved. But these seniors don't have to settle for lower standards when it comes to quality of life. A recent study supported by the National Institutes...

HHS wants to bring ALJs, DAB to heel: ALJs' independence threatened with new proposed rule.(Appeals)
January 4, 2008... Seniors could have a much tougher time getting a fair shake at the administrative law judge level if a new proposed rule is finalized. The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) wants to compel Administrative Law Judges (ALJs) and...

Hospice nurses receive better compensation: LPNs don't make out as well.(Hospice)
January 4, 2008... Hospice registered nurses saw their salaries rise nearly 3.5 percent from 2006 to 2007, according to a new salary survey from Hospital & Healthcare Compensation Service in Oakland, NJ. Hospice RNs had a national median hourly rate of $25.86...

SCHIP finally passed--mixed response from various providers: some issues still left unresolved.(SCHIP)
January 4, 2008... President Bush has signed into law the Medicare package Congress passed last month. On Dec. 29, the President approved S. 2499, the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007, which provides a 0.5 percent Medicare payment increase for...

OIG Semiannual Report reflects on $43 billion in recoveries: audits covered everything from hospice to supplies.(OIG)(Report)
January 4, 2008... The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) has released its Semiannual Report to Congress, covering its activities between April and September of 2007. In the report, the OIG notes that its savings and recoveries over the six-month period...

New deductibles and copays mark increase: HHA services slip by the hike.(Medicare)
January 4, 2008... Medicare contractors have their marching orders on new deductibles and copays for Medicare beneficiaries. The Part A deductible for 2008 is $ 1,024, up from $992 this year. But home health agency (HHA) services aren't subject to a deductible or...

Patient satisfaction will soon be known of home health agencies: quality of care going under the microscope.(Surveys)
January 4, 2008... The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is one step closer to including patient satisfaction in home health agencies' outcomes rankings. HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has requested Office of Management and...

PPS transition weighs heavily on HHAs: many agencies are groaning under software burden.(PPS)
January 11, 2008... Home health agency (HHA) staff rang in the New Year with lots of extra headaches related to the prospective payment system (PPS) changes that took effect Jan. 1. The changes finalized last August require numerous billing and OASIS...

Mental health parity measure seeks to even coverage field: bill would improve mental health coverage nationwide.(Federal Legislation)
January 11, 2008... The Mental Health Parity Act of 2007 (S. 558) had at press time unanimously passed the Senate and was undergoing negotiations in the House. The legislation, cosponsored by Sens. Pete V. Domenici (R-NM), Edward M. Kennedy (D-MA) and Michael...

Model offers template for colleges to meet students' mental health needs: guidelines suggest how to help, not discriminate against, mentally ill.(Privacy)
January 11, 2008... The Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law has developed a model policy that institutions of higher learning can use to ensure they support, rather than punish, mentally ill students. The purpose of the model is to provide best practices for...

Health savings accounts provide first-dollar coverage for preventive care: an AHIP survey shows HSAs are offering coverage for recommended preventive services without regard to whether the deductible is met.(HSAs)
January 11, 2008... Most health savings account (HSA) plans cover recommended preventive benefits on a first-dollar basis, according to a survey released in November by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP). "HSA plans have been a valuable new coverage...

Good labels essential to safe drug use: pharmacies may need to ask themselves, "?Hablo Espanol?".(Studies & Reports)
January 11, 2008... If pharmacists have many customers who are seniors or newcomers to the United States, they need to take a close look at the labels they dispense. It may be the best thing they can do to protect patients and limit their liability for mishaps....

Nurse support critical for nursing workforce development programs: ANA rallies nurses to make voices heard on at-risk funding measure.(Legislation Update)
January 11, 2008... The American Nurses Association (ANA) is urging nurses to speak out against proposed cuts to vital nursing programs. The ANA is calling on nurses nationwide to appeal to their Congressional leaders to exclude Nursing Workforce Development...

Providers can sharpen their stark law knowledge: expert tips help providers navigate part III of the Stark saga.(Compliance)
January 11, 2008... If anything in the health care industry keeps providers and their referring physicians on their toes, it's the Stark Law. This set of strict regulations that prohibit physician self-referrals just saw its third major set of revisions and...

Free video is not a kickback: watch out for more grouper payment errors.(OASIS News)
January 11, 2008... A new advisory opinion provides more guidance on acceptable preoperative education. The HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued Advisory Opinion 07-16 Dec. 12 addressing a home health agency's practice of providing a free educational...

States have carried the parity banner for many years: 38 states have passed mental health parity laws in some form.(State Legislative Trends)
January 11, 2008... States have stepped up to the plate to enact mental health parity legislation over the past seven to eight years, says Bernie Horn, policy director for the Center for Policy Alternatives in Washington, DC. Ohio recently became the 38th...

CMS' SCHIP plan causes stir in child health care: CMS curbs Medicaid extension to children above 250 percent of poverty line.(SCHIP)
January 18, 2008... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recent move to limit expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) has caught a lot of heat. The new directive, obtained without congressional approval, blocks all...

Health expenditure jumps to $2.1 trillion: high growth in drugs and Medicare spending blamed.(Spending)
January 18, 2008... In 2006, the new Medicare prescription drug benefit contributed to an 18.7 percent increase in Medicare spending, which rose to $401.3 billion, up from $338.0 billion a year earlier, according to a report published in Health Affairs (Jan./Feb....

U.S. takes last place in 19 nations' health care survey: 101,000 avoidable deaths, study shows.(Studies & Reports)
January 18, 2008... Mortality rates for preventable illnesses are higher in the United States than in 19 other developed nations. While the other nations improved radically between the study periods of 1997-98 and 2002-03, the United States showed only a minor...

Physicians need better error reporting system: more than half of doctors unsure of how to properly report mistakes, study reveals.(Studies & Reports)(Clinical report)
January 18, 2008... The perception that U.S. doctors are unwilling to report medical errors and learn how to prevent them is false, says a new study funded by the Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ). ...

Expert helps Congress get up to speed on creative Medicaid mental health programs for youth: strategies include evidence-based programs, taxing millionaires for funding.(State Trends)
January 18, 2008... A number of states have come up with novel and successful Medicaid approaches to provide mental health care for children and young adults, according to child mental health expert and advocate Janice L. Cooper, PhD, in recent testimony to...

CMS delays imaging antimarkup provision until 2009: delay does not apply to some pathology services, however.(Imaging)
January 18, 2008... One of Medicare's most confusing new rules has gone away, allowing practices another year to make sense out of the anti-markup rule's provisions. Medicare had planned to implement its new rule, which said that practices can't bill Medicare...

CMS pushes self-directed care: Medicaid benes would hire and manage their own assistants under proposed rule.(Medicaid)
January 18, 2008... Businesses relying on Medicaid revenues should get ready for a possible change. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) wants Medicaid beneficiaries to be able to hire, manage and fire their own personal care assistants,...

Hospices need to shore up claims data: details are now necessary.(Claims)
January 18, 2008... Starting in July, CMS requires hospice claims to be a lot more detailed. According to MLN Matters article MM5567, hospice providers will have to "describe the services provided in the course of delivering each hospice level of care billed"...

Take an educated break with a quick audioconference: log on to audioeducator.com to see the many different Eli-sponsored audioconferences.(Education)(Calendar)
January 18, 2008... Brushing up on your business skills doesn't have to be time-consuming. Attend a short audioconference in your field from the comfort of your own office. Just log on to www.audioeducator.com and browse the different specialties. Some of the many...

Competitive bidding program lowers costs for benes: savings could reach $1 billion mark.(Medicare)
January 18, 2008... The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has added 70 new geographic areas to its competitive bidding program, allowing Medicare beneficiaries to lower their out-of-pocket costs and giving the Feds an opportunity to keep...

Young ADHD patients experience brain development lag, imaging study shows: individual detection still not possible.(Studies & Reports)
January 18, 2008... The brain in attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) matures more slowly in some regions, especially the cerebral cortex, but follows a normal pattern. That's according to an imaging study performed by researchers at the National...

2008 Presidential Candidates tackle health insurance reforms: find a way through the health reform plans.(Reform)
January 25, 2008... Health insurance reform is a major plank in the campaign platforms of this year's slate of Republican and Democratic front-runners. Much is riding on voter understanding of the various reform packages as candidates attempt to communicate ideas...

Regence leverages consumers' comparison-shopping impulses: a new online feature will allow members to share information on their experiences with providers.(New Plans & Products)
January 25, 2008... Insurance providers have been studying how consumers shop for health care--and they plan to give them some new tools to do it successfully. According to a study conducted by health insurer Regence, more people than previously thought could...

Emergency departments show escalating wait times: rural EDs more efficient than urban counterparts.(Studies & Reports)
January 25, 2008... A patient's ethnicity and sex can directly influence the length of time he or she spends waiting in a hospital's emergency department, a new report reveals. Harvard Medical School researchers conducted a study to determine if the increase...

Expect round two details this spring: seek accreditation now, feds coach.(Durable Medical Equipment)
January 25, 2008... The starting bell has sounded for the next round of competitive bidding--but home health agencies will have to wait a few months before they're actually in the fight. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) acknowledges that it...

For some organizations, HIPAA practices have gone out of sight, out of mind: the government has convicted HIPAA violators--organizations should make sure they aren't at risk.(HIPAA)
January 25, 2008... HIPAA compliance may no longer be at the top of the to-do list, but that doesn't mean it should fall off of the list all together. As most practices know, the HIPAA privacy rule went into effect in April 2003. At that point, people couldn't...

Keep physician signatures--and claims--on track: faxes and electronic signatures are OK (again) for hospice certifications, but stamped signatures for HHA orders are off limits.(Reimbursement)
January 25, 2008... Home health agencies are asking for denied claims if they aren't up on the latest physician signature guidance from the feds, but that news is changing fast. Hospices cheered the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) Jan. 15...

Medical credit could get checkup this summer: patient relief remains the goal.(Payment)(Brief article)
January 25, 2008... Healthcare Analytics, a Waltham, MA-based health technology firm, wants to use beneficiaries' medical billing history to assign a new medical credit score, rating their ability to pay, the Dallas Morning News reports. The "MedFICO score,"...

Study: RHIOs floundering: investment increase needed.(Studies & Reports)(regional health information organizations)(Brief article)
January 25, 2008... A new study suggests that the future of regional health information organizations (RHIOs) is "tenuous at best." The study, published online by Health Affairs, claims that only 20 RHIOs in the U.S. are fully functional and a dozen are...

MedPAC recommends freeze for SNF, home health rates: reminder: this is only a recommendation.(Home Health)
January 25, 2008... The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) made two new recommendations last week that could put a stake through the heart of skilled nursing facility (SNF) and home health reimbursement. MedPAC voted to freeze SNF payment rates for...