Quality and Safety
A federal judge ruled last week to block California's plan to cut Medicaid payments to hospitals by 10 percent.
The United States Justice Department has joined a whistleblower case alleging that a national chain of for-profit hospices violated the False Claims Act by spending millions of taxpayer dollars to care for Medicare recipients in hospice who were not terminally ill.
The National Committee for Quality Assurance announced today an agreement with Dallas-based population health management company Phytel, under which physician practices using the Phytels's care management technologies can automatically meet certain NCQA requirements for recognition as a patient-centered medical home.
Contrary to federal law, CMS accepted $15.1 million in gross drug costs for prescriptions written by excluded providers from 2006 to 2008 under the Medicare Part D program, according to a recent report from the Office of Inspector General.
Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced yesterday the award of more than $296 million to 23 states that have exceeded target enrollment under the Children Health Insurance Program (CHIP), which insures children 0-17 who live in a low-income household.
As drug shortages become more frequent and severe, providers are feeling the financial impact of the higher-priced alternatives and the personnel hours required to deal with the escalating problem.
Current efforts to increase the number of primary care physicians in this country may not be enough to quickly increase the supply of practitioners according to a new policy analysis from the National Institute for Health Care Reform (NIHCR).
A new study published last week in the journal Pediatrics showed that children without special healthcare needs who received care in a medical home model had fewer visits to their physicians, had lower rates of emergency room use and exhibited healthier behaviors than those in other care models.
Even though the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has taken steps to curtail fraud and abuse from Medicare suppliers of durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics and supplies (DMEPOS), it needs to do more says a recently released report from the Office of Inspector General.
The American Medical Association (AMA) last week released two new trend reports in its Policy Research Perspective series illustrating the high price doctors pay to protect themselves against malpractice suits.