Health Law Attorney Blog

On December 30, 2009, CMS announced a proposed rule to implement provisions of the Recovery Act that provide incentive payments for the meaningful use of certified EHR technology. The proposed rule outlines provisions governing the EHR incentive programs, including defining the central concept of “meaningful use” of EHR technology. The text of the rule can […]

In the new 2010 physician fee schedule, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has replaced consultation codes with an increase in work relative value units (RVUs). Effective January 1, 2010, CMS will no longer recognize consultation codes that reflect various places of service (with the exception of telehealth consultation G-codes), such as inpatient […]

Those monitoring regulations effective January 1, 2010 related to CMS payment policy for teaching CRNAs involved in two (2) concurrent anesthesia cases with student nurse anesthetists were likely confused by a November 20, 2009 CMS MLN Matters article that appeared to contradict the new regulatory language and CMS Transmittal 1859. Specifically, although the federal register […]

On December 1, 2009, the Sixth Circuit affirmed the conviction of Dr. Jorge A. Martinez, an anesthesiologist, who was charged with illegally distributing controlled substances, mail fraud, wire fraud, and healthcare fraud, including two counts that resulted in the death of patients. In 2002, the FBI began investigating Dr. Martinez’s pain-management clinic in Parma, OH […]

Requirements for Medicare coverage of Inpatient Rehabilitation Services will undergo a number of changes, effective January 1, 2010. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) released a transmittal on October 23, 2009 detailing these changes, which include several new requirements for the patient admission process and ongoing recordkeeping. Admission will only be considered “reasonable and […]