1. CMS Announces Proposed Payment Rates for Surgery Centers and Outpatient Departments — CMS released its proposed payment rates for ASCs in 2010, which included a 0.6 percent conversion factor update and an expansion of Medicare’s coverage of outpatient procedures.
2. New Jersey Surgeon and Office Manager Charged With Healthcare Fraud — Khashayar Salartash, MD, of Linwood, N.J.; his office manager, Farah Iranipour Houtan; and The Center for Lymphatic Diseases, which was owned by Dr. Salartash, were indicted of charges of healthcare fraud, alleging more than $8.5 million in false charges.
3. FTC Issues Antitrust Complaint Over Carilion Clinic’s Acquisition of Two Virginia Outpatient Clinics — The Federal Trade Commission issued an administrative complaint to challenge the Virginia-based Carilion Clinic’s acquisition of an outpatient imaging center and surgery center, which signals possible increased difficulties for physician practices and holdings, such as imaging and surgery centers, when selling to healthcare chains or providers that already have a strong presence in their market.
4. WSJ Reports on Office-Based Surgery Crackdowns — The Wall Street Journal reported that more states, such as New York, California, Indiana and Arizona, are tightening laws and regulations on in-office outpatient surgeries, requiring offices to get accredited and issuing tougher penalties for violators.
5. Two Texas Nurses Indicted After Complaining About Hospital Physician — Two nurses who registered a complaint against a Texas hospital physician where indicted on charges of the misuse of official information, causing some to fear that these actions would deter future whistleblowers from coming forward.
6. CMS Proposes Changes to 2010 Physician Fee Schedule — CMS announced its proposed changes to the 2010 Medicare and Medicaid physician fee schedule, which included increased payments for general practitioners and geriatric physicians but decreased payments for specialists.
7. 32 Physicians and Healthcare Executives Indicted for Medicare Fraud — The Department of Justice and HHS reported that 32 people have been indicted for their roles in schemes to submit more than $16 million in false Medicare claims.
8. Minnesota Spine Surgeon Under Scrutiny For Not Disclosing Medtronic Payments In Senate Testimony — David Polly, MD, a spine surgeon at the University of Minnesota, is under scrutiny after he failed to disclose payments he received from Medtronic for consulting services in May 2006 testimony in front of a Senate committee, asking for government funding to research arm, leg and spine injuries of soldiers in Iraq.
9. Recovery Act to Fund Efforts to Reduce Healthcare-Associated Infections in ASCs — HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that 12 states would receive American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to help support healthcare-acquired infection prevention programs in stand-alone and same-day surgery centers.
10. Connecticut Man Sentenced in ASC Investment Scam — Bradley Kabbash, of Greenwich, Conn., was sentenced to three years in prison for his role in an investment scam involving “bogus” investments in hospitals and ASCs.
