Author

Brook Raflo

  • Home Health

    Study: Players Prone to Sleep Apnea

    London, Ontario, Canada Although the National Football League’s season has ended, sleep may not come easily for some weary players, according to a recent report from researchers at the University of Western Ontario. Experts typically associate sleep apnea with middle-aged men, but the disorder may be present among young, physically fit men, too, said Charles George, lead author of an article that appeared last month in The New England Journal of Medicine. George based this conclusion on a study of more than 300 professional football players from eight NFL teams. Compared to men of similar size and age, these football players were nearly five times more likely to have sleep apnea. Fourteen percent of the study’s participants experienced sleep-disordered breathing, and that percentage jumped to...

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  • Legislation & Regulation

    Senate Omnibus Bill Does Not Mention HME

    Washington Home medical equipment providers breathed a sigh of relief Jan. 24, after the U.S. Senate passed a $390 billion omnibus budget package that did not include HME competitive bidding. The omnibus package consists of 11 appropriations bills that address almost every government function for the 2003 fiscal year. Responding to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Chuck Grassley’s request, the package delayed a 4.4 percent Medicare physician reimbursement cut, slated to take effect this year, and brought reimbursements for rural and small urban hospitals in line with reimbursements for large urban hospitals. The Senate’s package also included a 5 percent rural home health add-on for a six-month period, ending Sept. 30, 2003. “The current 10 percent rural add-on is scheduled to expire April 1, 2003, if...

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  • Legislation & Regulation

    Congressman Urges Oversight of JCAHO

    Washington The organization that oversees the activities of countless health care providers — including hospitals, home medical equipment companies and home health agencies — could use some oversight of its own, Rep. Pete Stark, D-Calif., told the U.S. Office of Inspector General Jan. 15. Pointing to what he deems ineffective hospital surveys, a conflict of interest between consulting and surveying functions, and anonymous contributions, Stark asked the OIG to investigate certain practices at the Oakbrook Terrace, Ill.-based Joint Commission on Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations. Commenting on Stark’s request, JCAHO asserted its willingness to cooperate with the OIG. “[We] welcome an evaluation by the [OIG] at any time,” the organization said, pointing to a 1998 report that found JCAHO’s processes to be satisfactory. “Indeed, the Joint...

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  • Legislation & Regulation

    Grassley Urges Probe of OIG Vacancies

    Washington Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, is concerned that turnover among top officials at the Office of Inspector General could compromise the office’s ability to police health care fraud, according to a spokeswoman for the senator. After receiving “numerous allegations from several whistleblowers,” about significant personnel changes at the OIG since Inspector General Janet Rehnquist took office in Aug. 2001, Grassley asked the U.S. General Accounting Office to review the situation. According to the whistleblowers, Rehnquist has mandated involuntary retirements and reassignments for 19 senior-level staff members, including six long-time deputy inspectors, during her tenure at OIG. “I can’t overlook the loss of high-ranking government servants with decades of service who have performed their jobs well,” Grassley said Oct. 22. “My judgement of their performance is...

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