On March 8, 2010, the American Hospital Association (AHA) submitted comments to CMS on its proposed "meaningful use" rule.

The Office of Inspector General (OIG) found that public disclosure of information about adverse events was limited, according to its review of 17 state adverse event report systems, eight Patient Safety Organizations overseen by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ), and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

A Department Appeals Board (DAB) order upholding the finding of an immediate jeopardy level violation and the imposition of $3,500 per day civil money penalty (CMP) against a skilled nursing facility (SNF) was vacated by the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals because the DAB's finding was based on pure

The HIT Standards Committee met on October 29, 2009 and formed an "Implementation Workgroup" which is charged with bringing forward “real-world” implementation experience to the HIT Standards Committee recommendations.  The Implementation Workgroup will have a special emphasis on strategies to accelerate the adoption of proposed standards, or mitigate barriers, if any.  In addition to public meetings designed to uncover new strategies, the Committee also launched a blog. Industry groups, including the AHA, are encouraging hospital leader's to partic

Let’s take a look at the definition of a consultation. A consultation is a type of service provided by a physician or qualified provider whose opinion or advice regarding the evaluation and/or management of a specific problem is requested by another physician or provider. Another way of defining a consultation is a rendering of advice of your professional opinion, followed by a report of your findings to the referring physician.

As we have moved into a new era of CMS compliance measures, the importance of solid hospital coding and documentation is a must to avoid unnecessary audits. With the onslaught of RAC’s aggressively beginning to focus on hospital services around the country, training internal coding staff and physicians will be the key to survival. Criteria for hospital admission services (99221-99223) are frequently under documented by physicians. Further, the use of time (counseling & coordination

Are we ready for the impending flu season?  What about an influenza pandemic?  The OIG recently released a duo of reports addressing preparedness for an influenza pandemic.  In one of the reports, the OIG examined the extent to which states and localities have prepared for a medical surge in response to an influenza pandemic and whether they have conducted and documented exercises that test their medical surge

Flu season is coming and concerns over an H1N1 resurgence are rising.  To make sure hospitals understand their obligations under EMTALA during a disaster or a pandemic, CMS issued, on August 14, 2009, a Survey and Certification Letter.  See CMS S&C-09-52.  The letter has an attached Fact Sheet, which addresses planning for a surge in ED services and waiver rules.

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In a report issued on August 5, 2009, the OIG examined days that Medicare allows more than 24 hours of services billed by a single physician and sought to identify the services physicians bill to Medicare but do not perform personally and the qualifications of nonphysicians performing "Incident To" services.  The OIG found that: