Is There A Way To Keep Using Opioid Painkillers And Reduce Risk? In response to the epidemic of opioid addiction and deaths, in 2016 the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released guidelines urging physicians to try non-opioid methods first for chronic pain. In a viewpoint published last month in JAMA, the journal of the American Medical Association, CDC officials wrote that while illicit opioids such as fentanyl seem to be driving the recent increase in opioid-related overdose deaths, "unnecessary exposure to prescription opioids must be reduced to prevent development of opioid use disorder in the first place." Read More... November 14, 2017 General, Public Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
AARP Foundation Sues Nursing Home To Stop Illegal Evictions A California judge could decide Tuesday if Gloria Single will be reunited with her husband, Bill. She's 83 years old. He's 93. The two have been married for 30 years. They lived in the same nursing home until last March, when Gloria Single was evicted without warning. Read More... November 14, 2017 General, Public Health 0 0 Comment Read More »
2017 EHR Report Card Electronic health records (EHRs) now are a part of most medical practices, yet doctors remain unhappy with them. In the Medical Economics 2017 EHR report—our fifth—we let them explain why in their own words. In our exclusive survey, we queried more than 3,200 physicians to learn more about their frustrations and the changes they would like EHR vendors to make in their products. Then we asked vendors to respond. Some of their answers may surprise you. Read More... October 19, 2017 EHR, General 0 0 Comment Read More »
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Could Improve Performance Measures Associated With the Fraud Prevention System We found that CMS's process for refining and enhancing FPS models needs improvement. Specifically, CMS could not track savings from administrative actions back to the individual FPS models that initiated the investigation because, according to CMS, that capability was not built into the FPS. In addition, CMS did not make use of all pertinent performance results because CMS did not (1) ensure that the adjusted savings Zone Program Integrity Contractors (ZPICs) and Program Safeguard Contractors (PSCs) reported to CMS reflected amounts certified by the OIG and (2) evaluate FPS ... September 29, 2017 Medicare 0 0 Comment Read More »
Enhancements Needed in the Tracking and Collection of Medicare Overpayments Identified by ZPICs and PSCs This study continues OIG's body of work examining overpayments made by Medicare. Overpayments can be identified by a number of key players including providers and Medicare contractors. Recovering overpayments is critical to reducing improper payments in the Medicare program. Past OIG work found that overpayments referred by program safeguard contractors (PSCs) for collection did not result in significant recoveries to the Medicare program. As of 2012, CMS had transitioned the workload of most PSCs to six zone program integrity contractors (ZPICs). In 2016, CMS began transitioning the remaining PSCs ... September 29, 2017 Medicare 0 0 Comment Read More »
