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January 23, 2015 Today's Top Story 1. FDA announces recall of one lot of Hospira 0.9 Percent Sodium Chloride Injection, USP, 250 mL. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has announced that Hospira, Inc. has initiated a voluntary nationwide recall of one lot of 0.9 percent Sodium Chloride Injection, USP, 250 mL (NDC 0409-7983-02, Lot 44-002-JT, Expiry 1AUG2016) to the user level due to one confirmed customer report of particulate in a single unit. The company has [...]

Today's Top Story Today's Top Story 1. MedPAC recommends freezing reimbursement to ASCs, other institutions during 2016. Modern Healthcare reports that the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) has voted to recommend that the U.S. Congress freeze Medicare reimbursements for ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs), dialysis, hospices, and long-term care hospitals at current rates during 2016. Panel members also proposed a package of recommendations from the agency’s March 2014 report, including increasing payment rates for acute-care hospital inpatient and outpatient [...]

1. CMS administrator to step down at the end of February. Modern Healthcare reports that U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Administrator Marilyn Tavenner has announced her resignation from the agency, to take effect at the end of February. Observers say that, given the history of the position and the current political environment, it may be difficult for President Obama to have a permanent CMS administrator confirmed for the remainder of his time in office. Andy [...]

1. Bill would shorten MU reporting periods from 1 year to 3 months. EHR Intelligence reports that several legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives have introduced the Flexibility in Health IT Reporting (Flex-IT) Act of 2015, which if enacted, would shorten the meaningful use (MU) reporting period for the various electronic health records (EHR) Incentive Programs from 365 days to 3-month quarters during 2015. Supporters of the bill argue that, with as many as one-third of eligible [...]

1. Study: Reducing periprosthetic joint infection would offer greatest cost savings for THA. Findings published online in the journal Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research suggest that periprosthetic joint infections may have a greater negative effect on cost and long-term effectiveness of total hip arthroplasty (THA) than implant longevity. The authors used a Markov model to compare the cost effects of a 10 percent reduction in each of three areas—periprosthetic joint infection, hospital readmission, and aseptic loosening. They found [...]

January 9, 2015 Today's Top Story 1. Release of Medicare payment data unlikely to initiate fraud cases, but could bolster them. An article in Modern Healthcare looks at the issue of public release of U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) payment data and how it might affect cases of suspected Medicare fraud. According to a spokesperson for a law firm that often represents whistle-blowers, "There’s nothing inherently fraudulent about doing a large number of procedures," and [...]

January 7, 2015 Today's Top Story 1. CMS: 2015 Medicare claims will be held until Jan. 14 to correct technical errors. The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced that Medicare Administrative Contractors (MACs) will hold claims containing 2015 services paid under the CY 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule (MPFS) for the first 14 calendar days of January 2015. CMS states that a series of technical errors were discovered after the Nov. 13 publication of [...]