Halifax Hospital agreed Monday, March 3, 2014, to settle a whistleblower case for alleged Stark Law violations with the U.S. Justice Department in the amount of $85 million — an amount so large it is more than twice the previous recors for hospital systems accused of Medicare fraud. The Daytona Beach, Florida hospital is accused of
Read MoreCMS sought recovery of an alleged overpayment in excess of $730,000 from a diagnostic laboratory, upon the conclusion and recommendation of Safeguard Services (SGS) to deny all claims submitted for 3,006 Medicare beneficiaries. Mr. Gaitan and Mr. Suarez, of our health care practice group, appealed the overpayment claim through the reconsideration (second level appeal),
Read MorePhoenix Cardiac Surgery, P.C., of Phoenix and Prescott, Arizona, has agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) a $100,000 settlement and take corrective action to implement policies and procedures to safeguard the protected health information of its patients. The settlement with the physician practice follows an extensive investigation by the HHS Office for Civil Rights (OCR) for potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA) Privacy and Security Rules. For assistance developing a HIPAA compliance program or responding to a HIPAA breach, contact Rafael A. Gaitan, Esq. Mr. Gaitan has over 15 years experience in the health care industry and regularly counsels physician practices on regulatory matters including HIPAA and the HITECH rules.
Read MoreCMS has announced that it will postpone its Recovery Audit (RAC) Prepayment Review demonstration project that would have held up payments to hospitals until the Medicare RAC reviews the claim to ensure that the provider complied with all Medicare payment rules. The Medicare RAC Prepayment Review demonstration called for the RACs to conduct prepayment review of claims for 15 procedures that historically result in high rates of improper payments. Many doctors were unhappy with the proposed program, especially cardiologists, who would be most affected since 11 of the 15 procedures identified for Medicare RAC prepayment review affect cardiologists.
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