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 | GCR April 2008 (full PDF issue) |
| Court to rule on injunction in competitive bidding suit
OIG cites high-risk areas, management challenges
HHS proposes medical error reporting system
DOJ objects to False Claims Act amendments
Genetic testing: An evolving market See Perspectives
Connecticut hospital reaches false claims settlement
Drug company may put kiosk in docs offices, says OIG
Data lacking on reprocessed medical devices: GAO
News in brief Full Article |
 | OIG Cites High-Risk Areas, Management Challenges |
| Medicare payment errors, Medicaid program administration, and Part D oversight are among top management challenges and high-risk areas for the Department of Health and Human Services, as identified in a recent report by the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG). Full Article |
 | California Court to Rule on Injunction in Lab Competitive Bidding Suit |
| A California court is expected to decide on or around April 7 whether it will temporarily stop the Medicare competitive bidding demonstration for clinical laboratory services in San Diego from going forward. Full Article |
 | HHS Proposes Medical Error Reporting System |
| The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed establishing a process in which health care providers can report medical errors voluntarily without fear of legal liability. Comments on the proposed rule are due April 14. Full Article |
 | DOJ Objects to False Claims Act Amendments |
| The Department of Justice (DOJ) is not supporting proposed legislation that would amend the False Claims Act (FCA), instead calling for more limited changes that would not include language allowing federal employees to bring qui tam lawsuits. Full Article |
 | Genetic Testing: An Evolving Market |
| The promise and potential of genetic testing as a means of improving patient care, coupled with advances in technology that put these tests within the reach of nearly all laboratories, has spurred the entrepreneurial growth of this kind of testing at a nearly phenomenal rate. I use the adjective "entrepreneurial" because that word represents risky enterprises, which is certainly applicable in this arena. Full Article |
 | Connecticut Hospital Reaches False Claims Settlement |
| Yale-New Haven Hospital (YNHH) has agreed to pay the federal government $3.7 million to settle charges that it violated the False Claims Act under the terms of a settlement agreement announced by the Department of Justice (DOJ) March 7. Full Article |
 | Drug Company May Put Kiosk in Docs’ Offices, Says OIG |
| The Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (OIG) determined that a proposed arrangement by a pharmaceutical company to place electronic kiosks in certain physicians offices offering patients free disease screening questionnaires would not generate prohibited payment under the anti-kickback statute. Full Article |
 | Data Lacking on Reprocessed Medical Devices: GAO |
| Not enough information is available to draw conclusions about the comparative safety of reprocessed medical devices, according to a Government Accountability Office (GAO) report released March 3. Full Article |
 | News in Brief (0804) |
| Lab Employee Pleads Guilty: An employee of a South Florida medical billing company on March 7 pleaded guilty in connection with a $2.1 million Medicare laboratory billing scheme. Defendant Lenka Slepickova pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida to one count of health care fraud conspiracy. The case against Slepickova arose from billings submitted from 2004 through 2006 by Washington Medical Laboratory Inc., a former Hallandale clinical laboratory, for services not provided. In April 2007, Slepickovas employer and the laboratorys owner, Marcelo de Jesus Serrano, was sentenced to 57 months in prison. Full Article |