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McBrayer Blogs
Lisa English Hinkle
Showing 50 posts by Lisa English Hinkle.
DEA Proposes New Tele-Prescribing Rules for End of COVID-19 State of Emergency
At the end of January, the Biden Administration announced that May 11, 2023, would mark the end of the federal public health emergency (PHE) declarations that have been in place for the last three years. For healthcare providers, this means change is on the horizon, especially where telemedicine is concerned. In response to the impending end of emergency telehealth provisions, the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has proposed a permanent rule regarding the prescription of controlled medications via telemedicine in order to extend COVID-era accommodations. The public will be able to comment for 30 days on the proposed rules. A summary of the rules can be found here: Proposed Telemedicine Rules Summary. More >
OIG, in a Departure, Approves Hospital Provision of Nurse Practitioner Services
Traditionally, the Office of the Inspector General for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OIG”) would take a hard stance on any arrangements that might involve some form of remuneration from a hospital to a referring physician, but the winds of change may be blowing. In Advisory Opinion 22-20, published in December of 2022, the OIG has given a green light, albeit in a limited context, to an arrangement in which a hospital may have its employee nurse practitioners perform some services traditionally performed by the patients’ primary care physicians. This is a small step in the direction of a more flexible OIG stance on the federal Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”), but it doesn’t completely sidestep risks. More >
OIG and CMS Audits Present New Round of Compliance Concerns for Healthcare Providers
Since the beginning of the Public Health Emergency, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (“CDC”) data reflect over 44 million COVID-19 cases, 3 million COVID-19 related hospitalizations, and 720,000 COVID-19 deaths. COVID-19 has placed enormous stress on our healthcare system. Federal and state responses to COVID-19 have woven a complex and complicated safety net by easing regulatory requirements through waivers and funneling billions of dollars to providers among many other actions. Just as the pandemic may finally be easing, federal focus on use of COVID-19 resources promises to increase healthcare providers’ stress. More >
Not All Surprises Are Presents: Preventing Surprise Medical Bills under the No Surprises Act
To address surprise medical costs for consumers, Congress recently passed an extremely complicated bill: No Surprises Act (“The Act”). No Surprises Act aims to prevent surprise medical bills or balance billing in the American health care system. Specifically, The Act prevents surprise medical bills when patients receive emergency care or are treated by an out-of-network provider at an in-network hospital or ambulatory surgical center. More >
Policy Reversal Means Return of Per Day Fines for Nursing Homes
On July 19, 2021, the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) rescinded a guidance issued in 2017 that significantly limited the discretion of CMS Locations to impose substantial fines for noncompliance. (For reference, the 2017 Guidance can be found here. The accompanying CMP Analytic Tool can be found here.) More >
Pandemic Pivot to Telemedicine Creates New Compliance Issues for Healthcare Providers
The shift to telemedicine in the United States predates the pandemic, but COVID-19 has accelerated its widespread use. In April of 2019, the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Service (CMS) finalized rules to increase telehealth benefits for Medicare Advantage enrollees, effectively incentivizing health systems with high numbers of private Medicare plan recipients to invest in telehealth services. More >
Healthcare Providers Take Notice: AMA Updates E/M Codes for 2021
In addition to staying up to date on the constantly changing landscape of COVID-19 requirements, healthcare providers must also stay well-informed of industry changes unrelated to the pandemic. On January 1, 2021, changes in Evaluation and Management (‘E/M’) codes for physicians took effect. These changes, proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (‘CMS’), primarily impact 2021 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (‘MPFS’) reimbursements. More >
The 2020 CARES Act: Caring About Substance Abuse Treatment Document ("SUD") Privacy
As of March 8th, 2021 there were more than 28,813,424 cases and 523,850 COVID-19-related deaths in the U.S., representing 20% of the world's known COVID-19 deaths, and the most deaths of any country.[1] More >
Malnutrition Diagnosis Codes: The Compliance Danger You’re Not Taking Seriously Enough
It may seem like hair-splitting, but including the wrong diagnostic codes for malnutrition on hospital inpatient claims – using codes for severe malnutrition in place of other forms of malnutrition – is a costly mistake. The estimated overpayment as a result of these coding errors is a reported $1 billion. Because the payment error rate was so high at a colossal 31%, Medicare-Severity Diagnosis Related Group ("MS-DRG") applicable entities must take note and prepare for a marked increase in Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General ("OIG") audits for these coding practices. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") also plans to implement review practices for malnutrition coding on a sample of inpatient claims. The increased payer audits will result in severe financial damage for hospitals and other MS-DRG applicable entities if they do not mitigate coding and documentation risks. More >
Alert: Rural Health Clinics - Your COVID-19 Testing Program Report is Due NOW!
While the extra health care dollars distributed by HHS for coronavirus testing were well received by rural health clinics and other providers, those funds come with important reporting requirements that take effect immediately. The Department of Health and Human Services’ funding initiative of $225 million for rural health clinics’ coronavirus testing efforts, known as the Rural Testing Relief Fund or Rural Health Clinic (“RHC”) COVID-19 Testing Program, is no exception to such requirements. These reporting requirements as well as the others for state and federal health care dollars related to the pandemic should be carefully followed as the HHS Inspector General and the Department of Justice are already investigating to ferret out misuse, fraud, waste, and abuse of these funds. More >
