National Government Services, Jurisdiction B Medical Review Department is reporting an 81 percent claims error rate in a prepayment medical review process being conducted for K0823 power chairs.
HomeCare News
Many medical device manufacturers expect to increase prices for products to offset the effects of a 2.3 percent excise tax scheduled to take effect in 2013, according to a recent industry survey conducted by global consultancy Emergo Group.
Amedisys Inc. of Baton Rouge, La., last week announced it is now a home health and hospice care provider for United Healthcare across the Southeast, including Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina and Tennessee. This will enable Amedisys to care for more than 4.9 million people who are members of United Healthcare’s commercial and Medicare Advantage plans in those states.
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) was recently awarded a prime contract by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to provide Enterprise Remote Identity Proofing (ERIP) and Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) Credential Services to support CMS in providing this Enterprise Service. The contract has a one year base period of performance, four one-year options and a total value of $78 million, if all options are exercised.
A year-long pilot study recently conducted by Alere Health found that at-home blood pressure monitoring increased medication compliance among coronary artery disease patients and reduced blood pressure levels in 98.4 percent of the home monitoring population. By comparison, only 33 percent of people who reported results to their providers via telephone saw reduced blood pressure levels. Alere markets an at-home blood pressure monitoring system for patients with coronary artery disease.
Julie Driver has joined the American Association for Homecare staff as senior manager of marketing and communications. She brings 10 years of experience in the private, government and academic sectors. She recently served as program manager of the Paul D. Coverdell Fellows Program at the Peace Corps and also managed the marketing department for Arizona Instrument.
Invacare Corp. of Elyria, Ohio, announced on March 2 that Doug Harper—previously general manager, Invacare Supply Group (ISG)—will assume the role of group vice president, sales and market development, North America. Harper joined Invacare Supply Group six years ago, and has been responsible for delivering lower cost solutions in supplies to providers, resulting in strong growth for both the provider and ISG.
A Kaiser Family Foundation poll released last week found that a strong majority of Americans want the traditional Medicare program to stay “as it is today.”
The National Association for Home Care & Hospice (NAHC) last week called for better, more comprehensive integrity programs after government officials announced one of largest cases of health care fraud in the nation’s history.
Fastrack and CMB Solutions last week announced entry into a strategic alliance aimed at helping HME providers increase patient contact and management directly through the Fastrack HME Enterprise software and CMB’s IVR solution.
Fastrack and CMB plan to drive innovations by allowing Fastrack customers to deploy patient contact solutions that can provide replenishment and compliance quickly and easily through existing Fastrack systems.
The amount of exhibit space at Medtrade Spring is relatively stable despite increasing pressure on the HME industry caused by competitive bidding, the show’s director reported last week.
The total area occupied by all booths at last year’s Medtrade Spring was about 57,000 square feet. This year, it will be just over 56,000.
Senate staff members are scheduled for an update next week on Medicare’s controversial Competitive Bidding Program.
Officials from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services will brief U.S. Senate staffers on Rounds 1 and 2 of the program at 2 p.m., Wednesday, March 14, in the Dirksen Senate Office Building, Room SD-430.
The American Association for Homecare is urging HME providers to alert their senators about the importance of this briefing.
VGM Insurance Services of Waterloo, Iowa, has named Nick Rohle as insurance consultant for the Midwest Region, and Jason Bienemann as the new Western Region insurance consultant.
S&P Indices last week announced the results of its S&P Economic Healthcare Indices for the year ending December 2011. Across the board, health care costs as measured by annual rates of change went up in the last month of the year. The S&P Healthcare Economic Composite Index indicates that the average per capita cost of health care services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs increased by 5.28 percent over the 12-months ending December 2011.
To be eligible for notification of any missing financial documents, the deadline for submitting hard copy financial documents for Round 2 of competitive bidding is Wednesday, Feb. 29. The hard copy package receipt deadline is March 30. For more information about these deadlines and others, go to the competitive bidding website.
The Joslin Diabetes Center, an affiliate of Harvard University, and American Well last week announced intentions to collaborate to bring telehealth services to patients nationwide, powered by American Well's Online Care technology. Joslin intends to introduce this initiative with the goal of improving clinical and financial outcomes.
Amedisys, Inc. of Baton Rouge, La., last week announced it is now a home health and hospice care provider for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia members. Becoming an in-network provider for the Georgia Blue enables Amedisys to care for more than 3.2 million people who are members of its commercial and Medicare Advantage plans. Amedisys is an in-network home health care provider for 35 managed care plans and seven plans for hospice care across Georgia.
The Office of Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services recently started releasing 11 short video and audio presentations for health care providers on top health care compliance topics. The free videos and audio podcasts cover health care fraud and abuse laws, the basics of health care compliance programs and what to do when a compliance issue arises.
The Supreme Court last week in a 5-4 decision sent back to the lower courts a case in which California health providers are suing over state Medicaid cuts. At issue is whether providers and beneficiaries may bring legal action against the state to enforce the federal Medicaid statute. Earlier, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services accepted some of the state's provider rate reductions while the case was under review.
Philips Respironics, a unit of Royal Philips Electronics, last week introduced the SimplyGo, a portable oxygen concentrator (POC) that offers continuous flow (up to 2 liters per minute) and pulse-dose delivery in a single device weighing 10 pounds or less.