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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 March 31, 2008 (full PDF issue) |
| Latest ‘hot spots’ in CLIA policy this year as program marks its 20th anniversary—see the Focus
—Changes in educational approach to certain quality control requirements
—Lab inspections: CMS, CAP response to GAO criticism
—Top survey deficiencies found by CMS, plus hints on how to avoid them
—Revisions to cytology PT rules, plus legislative drive to scrap them in favor of a CME alternative
—New warning against violating rule barring referral of PT samples, plus common ways the rule may be inadvertently breached
NGS gets new MAC Part A/B contract to handle claims for Connecticut, New York
Medicare expands coverage of home blood testing for beneficiaries on anticoagulant therapy
Full Article |
| House Energy & Commerce Committee Approves Overhaul of CLIA Cytology PT |
| A bill to overhaul the CLIA proficiency testing program for gynecologic cytology is ready to be scheduled for consideration by the full House, now that the Energy & Commerce Committee has reported H.R. 1237, a measure backed by a broad swath of national and state pathology groups.
Full Article |
| Senate, House Bills Would Block July 1 Cut in Physician Fees |
| Bills have been introduced in the House and the Senate to prevent a 10.6 percent cut in Medicare payments for pathologists and other physicians due to start July 1 and assure a modest increase for the next 18 months. Congress late last year staved off a 10.1 percent cut set for the first of this year and approved a 0.5 percent increase through June 30.
Full Article |
| Current CLIA ‘Hot Spots’ & What They Mean for Labs |
| This year marks the 20th anniversary of the CLIA program, the most sweeping change in the regulation of clinical laboratory testing in the nation’s history. For the first time, all testing of human specimens for disease or health status was made subject to federal oversight. Currently, 200,667 labs are enrolled in CLIA (in 1994, 150,000), according to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.
Full Article |
| Connecticut, New York to Get New Medicare Part A/B Contractor |
| The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has awarded National Government Services (NGS, headquartered in Indianapolis) a contract of up to five years for the combined administration of Medicare Part A and Part B claims payment in Connecticut and New York. The contract has an approximate value of $323 million over five years, CMS said.
Full Article |
| Coverage Expanded for Home Testing for Anticoagulant Therapy |
| In a policy change announced March 19, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has expanded Medicare coverage for home blood testing of prothrombin time (PT) International Normalized Ratio (INR). As a result, coverage will extend to beneficiaries using the drug warfarin, an anticoagulant medication, for chronic atrial fibrillation or venous thromboembolism.
Full Article |
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