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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 11, 2007 (full PDF issue) |
| CMS holds second round of comments on proposed new single ABN
Proposed ABN version customized for lab tests
Focus on NPI Compliance Policy
—Q&As on new data dissemination notice
—Table: List of healthcare provider data from NPPES
Medicare lab spending: How tempting a target for cuts?
CLIA Advisory: New waived tests and billing codes
Genetic testing study called for in Senate-passed FDA bill
Washington Watch: Holsinger nominated as Surgeon General
Full Article |
| Medicare Opens Lab Fee-Setting Process for ’08 |
| The process for establishing Medicare reimbursement rates for new CPT lab codes in 2008 will kick off with a July 16 public meeting, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has announced.
Full Article |
| CMS Discloses Provider Data to Aid NPI Implementation |
| In a move long awaited by clinical laboratories and other providers to make it easier to obtain and exchange National Provider Identifiers (NPIs), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has disclosed the data it will make available from the National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) and who can access these data.
Full Article |
| CMS Seeks More Comment on Switch to Single ABN |
| A second round of public comment is underway until June 24 on a revised draft of a new single-page Advance Beneficiary Notice (CMS-R-131). In a Federal Register notice on May 25, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services invited additional input on changes made to the original proposed version after the first round of public comment earlier this year.
Full Article |
| CMS Releases Provider Data to Aid NPI Exchange |
| To the relief of clinical laboratories and other healthcare providers, the government has set forth the data details it will make available from the National Plan & Provider Enumeration System (NPPES) and who can access the data. Labs and other provider groups have long complained that lack of guidance on the data availability has been a big factor impeding NPI readiness among various trading partners.
Full Article |
| CMS Announces New Waived Tests & Billing Codes |
| The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has recently updated its list of clinical laboratory tests approved by the Food & Drug Administration as waived under CLIA (the Clinical Laboratory Improvement Amendments). Effective July 1, the following tests are added and must be billed with the QW modifier in order to be recognized by local Medicare contractors as a waived test.
Full Article |
| Lab Spending: How Ripe a Target for Medicare Cuts? |
| When pressed to cut Medicare spending, Congress has historically eyed Part B lab spending as a "tempting target." Since establishing the lab fee schedule in 1984, lawmakers have canceled the annual update 12 times in 23 years, including the latest freeze that runs through 2008, and have reduced the national fee caps from 115% to 74% of the national median.
Full Article |
| Genetic Testing Study Approved in Senate FDA Bill |
| Neither of two genetic testing oversight bills got on the fast track as the Senate took up legislation reauthorizing Food & Drug Administration user fees for drug and device makers. But the final measure the Senate passed by a vote of 93 to 1 (S. 1082) included an amendment calling for an Institute of Medicine study to assess the safety and quality of genetic testing and to make recommendations to improve federal oversight and regulation of such tests.
Full Article |
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