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Cardiology and Cardiovascular Hospital Relationships — False Claims, Stark Act and Anti Kickback Investigations — A Target Area for the Government – 7 Recent Cases and Settlements

Over the last several years, there has been no area of medicine where the government has launched more investigations, whether false claims, anti kickback or Stark, than in the cardiovascular area. This makes sense when you realize that the government…

CMS Proposes Raising Medicare Advantage Payments Next Year

CMS is proposing to raise payments Medicare Advantage payments insurers by 1.38 percent next year, according to a CMS release.

Survey: Surgeons Risk Occupational Injury From Minimally Invasive Procedures

Surgeons who perform high volumes of minimally invasive procedures report suffering various types of pain, from eye strain to hand, leg, shoulder and back pain, according to a survey of surgeons conducted by the University of Maryland School of Medicine…

Uninterruptible Power Supply: A Misnomer

In the stack of computer hardware in your surgery center server room, you have — or should have — one or more UPS units. UPS stands for Uninterruptible Power Supply. (Note: If you don't have UPS systems, then you have…

HHS Grants $4.3B to States for Medicare Part D Costs

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius has announced $4.3 billion in funding to states to help them offset the cost of Medicare coverage for prescription drugs for state residents eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid, according to an HHS news release.

President Releases Proposed Health Reform Bill

President Obama has released his proposal for a health reform bill, which he will carry into a televised meeting on health reform with Democrat and Republican Congressional leaders on Thursday.

WellPoint Explains High Rate Increases for Individual Insurance

WellPoint explained why it wants to increase rates as much as 39 percent for individual insurance at its California subsidiary, Anthem Blue Cross, in a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Chief Impetus for Medicare Spending Moved From Inpatient to Outpatient Care

The chief impetus of Medicare spending from 1987-2006 moved from inpatient hospital services to outpatient treatment of chronic conditions, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Federal Workgroup Shows Interest in Loosening Meaningful Use Rules

A federal workgroup has shown interest in giving hospitals and physicians greater flexibility in meeting CMS' proposed rule on meaningful use standards to qualify for electronic health record incentive payments, according to a report by AHA News Now.

10 Statistics and Facts About Growth in Joint Replacement

Here are 10 statistics and facts about joint replacement from a comprehensive CDC report titled, "Health, United States, 2009," under the section, "Special Feature, Medical Technology."