Compliance & Legal

More than 83 percent of physician practices do not believe current Medicare physician quality reporting programs enhanced their physicians' ability to provide high-quality patient care, according to new research released Monday.

Flexing its anti-kickback muscles, the federal government is clamping down hard on some profit-focused patient referral and healthcare joint venture practices.

The offical transition to the ICD-10 coding set takes place next October (or so we hope). Many providers have already spent a good deal of money preparing for the inevitable, but even so, you need to make certain that select ICD-10 costs are included in your 2015 budget.

Last week the HHS Office of Inspector General and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services published a joint notice continuing the effectiveness of fraud and abuse law waivers granted in 2011 in connection with the Medicare Shared Savings Program.

Seismic changes altering the healthcare industry are creating an increasing number of compliance requirements for hospitals and health systems to meet. This means a larger role for an organization's chief compliance officer.

This week the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services expanded the agency's Five Star Quality Rating System for Nursing Homes, and proposed new conditions of participation for home health agencies.

When a healthcare provider's data resides on someone else's servers, plenty can go wrong. And HIPAA isn't necessarily the worst of it. Experts offer contracting advice to help head off financial and legal disputes between vendors and providers.

Are hospitals exploiting the 340B drug discount program? Critics of the federal government's program have some new evidence in the debate over healthcare subsidies.

When large hospitals and health systems buy or affiliate with smaller facilities, the deals can benefit both parties.

With an annual rate of 11,000 fatalities from falls in U.S. hospitals, falls are a persistent concern for healthcare facilities.