Healthcare News of Note: Medicare to negotiate reduced prices for 40 drugs by 2028, says study
Medicare drug price negotiation has the potential to benefit Medicare beneficiaries across some of the most common disease states.
News Briefs: Healthcare industry disrupter CVS Health to shell out billions to buy Oak Street Health
A month after stating it hoped to gain a presence in primary care, CVS Health accomplished that goal with a massive deal that could fortify its efforts to advance value-based payment in healthcare. The proposed $10.6 billion acquisition of Oak Street Health, a provider of senior-focused primary care, adds to a portfolio of assets that…
Hospital price transparency update: Regulatory enforcement soon could become stricter, CMS leaders say
Although nothing is official, CMS leaders indicate enforcement of hospital price transparency regulations is set to become more stringent. For an article published in Health Affairs, the Center for Medicare’s Meena Seshamani, MD, PhD, director, and Douglas Jacobs, MD, chief transformation officer, touted progress that has been made since the rules took effect Jan. 1,…
Healthcare News of Note: 7 hospitals earn a Press Ganey award for outstanding nursing quality
Seven hospitals were recognized for elevating nursing excellence and improving patient outcomes with Press Ganey’s National Database of Nursing Quality Indicators Award for Outstanding Nursing Quality. Only 48% of Americans rank the quality of U.S. healthcare as excellent or good, according to results of a Gallup Health and Healthcare survey. Nearly half of Americans are…
DOJ withdraws guidance that bolstered antitrust safe harbors for GPOs, cost benchmarking and more
Potentially leading to stricter enforcement of antitrust policy in healthcare, the U.S. Department of Justice has withdrawn guidance that essentially promoted certain arrangements in the industry. The Feb. 3 announcement from DOJ’s Antitrust Division amounts to a cancellation of so-called “safety zones” that were established in three sets of nonbinding guidance issued between 1993 and…
Honor Roll: HFMA awards certifications to 2,746 members between September and December 2022
HFMA offers eight certifications for members to validate their expertise and demonstrate their commitment to the profession. The HFMA certifications are as follows: Certified Healthcare Financial Professional (CHFP), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR), Certified Revenue Cycle Representative (CRCR) – GCC, Certified Specialist Accounting & Finance (CSAF), Certified Specialist Business Intelligence (CSBI), Certified Specialist Physician Practice…
OIG describes how hospitals can use NPs to treat patients without violating the Anti-Kickback Statute
An advisory opinion from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG) appears to give hospitals leeway to expand their use of nurse practitioners in specific situations without violating the Anti-Kickback Statute. OIG issued the opinion in December in response to an inquiry from an unnamed acute care hospital. The hospital was seeking clarification on whether…
News Briefs: 2023 brings a steep fee hike for No Surprises Act arbitration cases
The No Surprises Act’s independent dispute resolution (IDR) process has become more expensive for healthcare stakeholders. For the new year, the nonrefundable administrative fee due from each party involved in any payment dispute that goes to arbitration increased from $50 to $350, according to a Dec. 23 memo from CMS’s Center for Consumer Information and…
During a potentially tumultuous Congress, healthcare stakeholders should communicate their policy priorities
With the 118th Congress bringing the potential for policy upheaval, one of the best things healthcare stakeholders can do is make themselves heard on Capitol Hill. The new Republican majority in the House of Representatives has signaled its intent to use the federal debt ceiling as leverage in budget negotiations. President Joe Biden and the…
Medicare contractors should more closely examine providers’ bad debt claims, HHS watchdog says
Medicare administrative contractors (MACs) soon could apply more scrutiny to providers’ reported bad debts if CMS implements recommendations from the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). OIG in December issued a report in which it examined bad-debt reimbursement claims on Medicare cost reports spanning 2016 through 2018 for 67 randomly selected providers (including 29 hospitals). In those…