2010 North Carolina Healthcare Provider Conference and Post-Acute & Senior Care Conference FULL AGENDA NOW AVAILABLE October 7 – 8, 2010 The Westin Charlotte 601 South College Street Charlotte, North Carolina The uncertainty surrounding the impact of healthcare reform requires providers to reexamine business models and attendant legal issues. McGuireWoods is hosting a two-day conference [...]

Recently we have seen a resurgence in four key areas in the healthcare arena as it relates to hospitals and physicians and the compensation and financial relationships between them.  There are a number of factors driving each of these four trends including: (i) consistent downward pressure on reimbursement, (ii) uncertainty about the future, (iii) efforts [...]

According to a press release issued on July 22, NC DHHS Secretary Lanier Cansler has named Drexdal Pratt the new Director of the Division of Health Services Regulation, effective August 1, 2010. For the past 12 years, Pratt has been the chief of the Office of Emergency Medical Services (OEMS). Jeff Hortonhas been the acting [...]

The Wall Street Journal today published a report that home health companies  Amedisys Inc. and Almost Family Inc. are now under investigation by the SEC following a month and a half of Congressional inquiries. You can read the full article here. Although not typically on this scale, these types of investigations and inquiries into billing [...]

Here is a link to some interesting remarks prepared by Assistant Attorney General Christine A. Varney for the American Bar Association/American Health Lawyers Association Antitrust in Healthcare Conference on May 24, 2010. This is a nice piece on enforcement and competition, which some mention of the development of Accountable Care Organizations (ACO’s). http://www.justice.gov/atr/public/speeches/258898.htm I usually [...]

Here are a few interesting comments on the future of home health care from Forbes: The recent health reform changes will mean $40 billion in cuts toward home health care, according to a report issued by Oppenheimer & Co. on Monday morning. These cuts will spur consolidation in the fragmented industry that collectively took in [...]

From time to time, The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) holds “Open Door Forums” to provide an opportunity for live dialogue between CMS and the provider community at large. The goal is to learn from other providers’ discussions and to get clarification on various rules and instructions associated with coverage, coding, and payment. The [...]

Effective January 1, 2010, the outlier payments made to each home health agency (“HHA”) in 2010 will be subject to an annual limit of 10% of the HHA’s total Medicare PPS payments for the year. Generally, payments for Home Health PPS claims are based on a certain number of “episodes of care.” Each episode of [...]

Today, CMS released the Final Rule for the 2010 Home Health Prospective Payment System Rate Update.  The complete text of the Final Rule can be found here. According to CMS, the final rule makes three key changes: – continues with the previously promulgated 2.75 percent reduction to the HH PPS rates in CY 2010 (to [...]