News Briefs
News Briefs
Improper payments’ declined, OIG says
What the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) characterizes as improper payments under the Medicare program declined for the sixth straight year in 2001, according to a report from the Department of Health Human Services.
The improper payments declined to 6.3%, or $12.1 billion of the $191.8 billion of Medicare payments last year. That’s down from a 6.8% rate, or $11.9 billion, in 2000, and less than half the 13.8% rate estimated in 1996, according to the report.
The OIG began estimating in 1996 the percentage of fee-for-service Medicare payments involving medically unnecessary services, documentation deficiencies, or miscoding. For 2001, the OIG randomly examined the medical records for 6,594 claims filed for 600 beneficiaries, out of 931 million claims filed for 34 million fee-for-service enrollees. For more information, go to http://oig.hhs.gov/oas/reports/cms/a0102002.htm.
Report outlines planning by hospitals for bioterror
Financial and capacity shortfalls have hospitals concerned about being overwhelmed by a major bioterrorism attack, even though they are devoting significant resources to prepare for possible attacks.
That’s the conclusion of a white paper from the La Jolla, CA-based Governance Institute, an organization of health care executives and trustees. The report describes how hospitals are reconfiguring their triage areas, ambulance bays, ventilation systems, and even surgical masks to prepare for incidents that could produce many more casualties than the Sept. 11 and anthrax attacks.
A supplement to the paper contains a checklist for action related to bioterrorism. The report is available for $7 by calling (858) 551-0144.
AHA pushes for change in EMTALA regulations
Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (EMTALA) screening regulations should be changed to differentiate between critical and noncritical patients, according to a hospital administrator testifying on behalf of the American Hospital Association (AHA).
The change would allow caregivers to provide other options to noncritical patients during times of severe emergency (ED) department overcrowding, Jody Lehman, corporate vice president for Baptist Health South Florida, said in testimony before the Department of Health and Human Services’ Task Force on Regulatory Reform.
In the first of five hearings held by the task force, Lehman suggested additional reforms, including the formation of an EMTALA Advisory Committee, providing an administrator-level review in the complaint process, and excluding ED services from local medical review policies.
Patient satisfaction rates dropped in Sept. 11 week
Patient satisfaction with health care services fell sharply during the week of the Sept. 11 attacks, according to a recent study by Press, Ganey Associates.
However, patient evaluations returned to normal levels the following week. Overnight patients were significantly less satisfied with the care they received immediately following the attacks, compared with patients who were discharged in the proceeding weeks.
Press, Ganey said the drop in patient satisfaction was likely due to stress among staff that manifested itself in a drop in productivity and attention to detail. The stress caused patients to be more demanding about their medical care and more sensitive to service breakdowns in the hospital, the study found. For more information, go to www.pressganey.com.
Reach for the Stars’ at NAHAM conference
The National Association of Healthcare Access Management’s (NAHAM) annual conference and exposition will take place May 19-21 at the Pointe Hilton Squaw Peak Resort in Phoenix.
"Reach for the Stars: Achieving Excellence in Patient Access Management" will cover topics ranging from HIPAA compliance to staff development and revenue cycle improvement. A popular pre-conference seminar, the University Hospital Session, will address topics of particular relevance to the university hospital-based access manager.
Returning as speakers for the plenary sessions will be Michael T. Myers Jr., director of the health care regulatory group practice for PricewaterhouseCoopers, and Jeanne Scott, director of government relations for NDC Health in McLean, VA.
For more information on the NAHAM conference, call (202) 367-1125 or visit the organization’s web site at www.naham.org.
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