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This biweekly newsletter provides concise, independent coverage and analysis of fast-breaking lab, pathology, blood banking, imaging and diagnostic radiology news from the Nation's Capital.
You'll find out about:
- Medicare payment and policy directives Billing guidelines and coding changes for diagnostic facilities
- CLIA & MQSA regulatory mandates, changes and interpretations
- Congressional actions & legislative initiatives
- Federal compliance requirements
- OIG anti-fraud initiatives
- Stark self-referral prohibitions
Plus you will get other legal news regarding FDA oversight of in vitro diagnostics, blood banks, and radiological devices OSHA, NRC, and state safety standards.
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 | NIR June 8, 2009 (full PDF issue) |
| Members picked for new health IT advisory panels, but absent specific lab industry representation
President says it is ‘make or break’ time for health care reform: see Focus
—Ambitious timetable for congressional action
—Lab coalition injects its priorities into the debate
—Response to specific proposals
—Outlook for final action
Medicare claims advisory: CMS clarifies ‘date of service’ requirements for pathology global billing
Should MedPAC, now advisory only, have power to set Medicare payment policy? President open to the idea
G-2 Conference Calendar
Full Article |
| Health IT Bonus Alert for Pathologists |
| Under provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA), Medicare and Medicaid bonuses are payable to qualified pathologists and other eligible professionals and to hospitals if they adopt and make meaningful use of certified health information technology (HIT) systems, including electronic health records (EHRs), starting in 2011.
Full Article |
| Lab Groups Weigh in on Health Care Reform Proposals |
| As Senate and House committees gear up to consider health care reform bills this month, the Clinical Laboratory Coalition (CLC) has been quick to pitch its priorities in the run-up to legislative action. CLC members include national lab associations, national lab companies, and device manufacturers.
Full Article |
| HHS Appoints Members to New Health IT Advisory Panels |
| The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has announced its appointments to two new committees established to advise the government on steps to promote nationwide adoption of health information technology (HIT), a health care reform priority of the Obama administration and Congress.
Full Article |
| Focus on: Health Care Reform: Obama: It’s ‘Make or Break’ Time for Health System Overhaul |
| President Barack Obama is urging Congress to act on health care reform legislation by the August recess and get a final version to his desk for signing in October. Toward this end, Democratic leaders of House and Senate health committees are aiming to come up with their first draft by the end of this month.
Full Article |
| Medicare Claims Advisory: ‘Date of Service’ Clarified for Pathology Global Billing |
| The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has ruled that global billing is “not appropriate” for the professional component (PC) and the technical component (TC) of pathology services performed by the same independent laboratory, but on different dates of service. In this case, the TC and the PC are to be billed as separate line items.
Full Article |
| Should MedPAC Have More Say in Medicare Payment Policy? |
| President Barack Obama says he is open to ideas about “giving special consideration to the recommendations of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC), a commission created by a Republican Congress. Under this approach, [the panel’s] recommendations on cost reductions would be adopted unless blocked by a joint resolution of Congress.”
Full Article |
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