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By: Cheryl Clark, for HealthLeaders Media, April 28, 2010
Efforts to reduce Medicare fraud and waste embedded in the system used to pay $310 billion in provider claims annually has made some progress, but an accelerated push has delayed claims payments and caused backlogs, Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus and Ranking Member Chuck Grassley said. They made their comments after the release of a 62-page performance audit from the General Accountability Office on Monday.
By: Janice Simmons, for HealthLeaders Media, April 28, 2010
As Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was speaking Tuesday at the American Hospital Association's annual membership forum in Washington, DC, several insurers were being asked to clarify coverage policies—particularly in regard to rescissions—in advance of a federal deadline under the new healthcare reform act.
By: Dom Nicastro, for HealthLeaders Media, April 27, 2010
The Department of Health & Human Services released its semi-annual regulatory agenda in the Federal Register Monday and wrote that modifications to the HIPAA privacy, security and enforcement rules will be coming in May.
By: John Commins, for HealthLeaders Media, April 27, 2010
A new report by a casualty insurance industry think tank says hospitals are cost-shifting billions of dollars in overcharges to automobile insurance companies to offset low reimbursements from Medicare/Medicaid.
By: John Commins, for HealthLeaders Media, April 27, 2010
Toe Myint, MD, was sentenced Monday in Detroit to six years in prison for his part in a Medicare fraud scheme at sham infusion clinics. An accomplice who recruited patients into the scam will serve more than three years behind bars, federal authorities said.
By: Scott Wallask, for HealthLeaders Media, April 27, 2010
A Joint Commission official is warning hospitals to double-check contingency plans they have in place for utility system failures. George Mills, MBA, senior engineer at the accrediting organization, said he has seen some medical centers rely too heavily on memorandums of understanding with vendors without truly testing those agreements.
By: John Commins, for HealthLeaders Media, April 28, 2010
AstraZeneca LP and AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP will pay $520 million to resolve whistleblower allegations that AstraZeneca illegally marketed the anti-psychotic drug Seroquel for off-label uses, federal officials announced yesterday.
By: Gienna Shaw, for HealthLeaders Media, April 27, 2010
Online health records have the potential to engage, empower, and educate patients in a number of ways. That's how it would be in an ideal world, anyway.
By: Rebecca Hendren, for HealthLeaders Media, April 27, 2010
National Nurses Week is almost upon us. Is it just me, or is anyone else uncomfortable about the tradition and hoopla?