Today’s Top Story
CMS updates Open Payments guidance for CME reporting.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has updated the Open Payments (Sunshine Act) website with information about new reporting requirements for continuing medical education (CME) in the 2015 Medicare Physician Fee Schedule final rule. Starting in 2016, when an applicable manufacturer provides an indirect payment or other transfer of value to a continuing education organization for a CME event to physicians, and knows or becomes aware of the identity of the physician attendees or speakers by the end of the second quarter of the following reporting year, that payment must be reported to CMS in 2017. View the CMS Open Payments Law and Policy page…
View the CMS Open Payments Frequently Asked Questions page…
Other News
Study: “Telerehabilitation” may offer effective alternative to in-person approach after TKA.
Findings published in the July 15 issue of The Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery suggest that in-home “telerehabilitation” may be an effective alternative to in-person rehabilitation for patients who have undergone total knee arthroplasty (TKA). The authors conducted a prospective, randomized trial of 205 TKA patients who underwent either telerehabilitation, using real-time, two-way video and audio interaction between a clinician at a rehabilitation center and a patient at home, or traditional rehabilitation through in-home visits. At 4-month follow-up of 182 patients, they found no significant difference between cohorts in adjusted gains to WOMAC score in pain, stiffness, function, and total score. Read more…
Read the abstract…
Studies examine opioid prescribing concerns.
According to data published in the August issue of the journal Medical Care, many patients who overdose on opioid medications use the painkillers only intermittently and at lower prescribed dosages. The research team reviewed records of patients who had at least one paid claim for an opioid prescription through the Washington Apple Health Medicaid system between April 2006 and December 2010, and who also had an emergency department (ED) or inpatient hospital claim for an opioid poisoning. They found that methadone poisonings occurred at 10 times the rate of other prescription opioid poisonings and increased over the term of the study period. Rates of other prescription opioid poisonings appeared to level off after the 2007 implementation of a state opioid guideline. Among individuals with nonmethadone opioid poisonings, 44 percent were chronic users. Overall, in the week before the poisoning, 17 percent of patients had a prescribed dose that met the guidelines’ caution level (>120 mg/d morphine-equivalent dose [MED]), while 28 percent had doses <50 mg/d MED; 48 percent of patients had concurrent sedative prescriptions.> Read more…
Read the abstract…
On a related note, a study published online in the journal Annals of Emergency Medicine suggests that ED providers display a cautious pattern of opioid prescribing. The researchers reviewed data on 27,516 patient visits to the ED in a single week. They found that 17.0 percent of discharged patients received an opioid prescription, but the majority of those were small pill counts and almost exclusively immediate-release formulations. The most common diagnoses associated with opioid prescribing were back pain (10.2 percent), abdominal pain (10.1 percent), and extremity fracture (7.1 percent) or sprain (6.5 percent). Read more…
Read the abstract…
Can mobile apps help reduce readmission rates?
An article in Healthcare IT News looks at the use of mobile apps to reduce readmission rates. The writer notes that data released by the Mayo Clinic in 2014 suggest that cardiac patients who participate in rehab and use smartphone apps to record weight and blood pressure lowered their cardiovascular risk factors and 90-day readmissions compared to those who didn’t use the apps. In addition, a recent survey by conducted by HIMSS found that many healthcare organizations have begun to investigate mobile technology as a way to engage patients. A developer of one app-based care coordination system offers key points for users to select effective app technology, including the following:
- Technology should be evidence-based.
- It should validate quality improvement claims within 6 months of deployment.
- It should support National Quality Forum Committee measurements.
- It should be platform agnostic.
- It should adhere to interoperability standards.
HIPAA privacy rules often misinterpreted.
An article in The New York Times examines privacy rules under the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA), and how they may be misinterpreted by those in the healthcare industry. One expert argues that HIPAA has “become an all-purpose excuse for things people don’t want to talk about.” The writer notes that HIPAA does not prohibit providers from sharing information with family, friends, or caregivers unless the patient specifically objects. Even if the patient objects, is not present, or is incapacitated, providers may use “professional judgment” to disclose information if it is “in the best interests of the individual.” Read more…
California.
HealthLeaders Media reports that a single, non-profit, independent rehabilitation hospital has filed suit to force the federal government to resolve Medicare billing appeals within a required 90-day window. A spokesperson for the institution states that CMS has “for years” held about $1.1 million in claims due the hospital that were flagged by recovery audit contractors (RACs). The suit claims that despite processing delays, RACs were allowed to continue to review and deny hundreds of thousands of claims, creating a severe backlog that has yet to be cleared. Read more…
Your help is needed! Voting reopened on AAOS resolutions and bylaws.
Balloting on AAOS resolutions and bylaw amendments has reopened. A vote of at least 20 percent of fellows is required for an official vote. If you have not voted, please help by casting your ballot to retain or rescind AAOS resolutions or bylaw amendments. The ballot should take no more than 2 minutes of your time. Cast your ballot…(member login required)
Call for volunteers: The Joint Commission Board of Commissioners.
AAOS seeks to nominate a member as the American Medical Association (AMA)-appointed member of The Joint Commission Board of Commissioners. The board consists of 32 voting members, including physicians, administrators, nurses, employers, a labor representative, quality experts, a consumer advocate, and educators. Applicants for this position must be active fellows, candidate members, candidate members osteopathic, candidate member applicants for fellowship, or candidate member applicants for fellowship osteopathic. In addition, nominees must be active members of the AMA at the time of appointment and throughout the term of service; may not be board members, advisory committee members, elected officers, employees, or paid independent contractors of other accrediting organizations; and may not hold leadership positions in healthcare organizations accredited by other accrediting organizations. Finally, all applicants must provide the following: an online AAOS CAP application, a current curriculum vitae, a 100-word biosketch, a conflict of interest form (contact Kyle Shah, below), and a letter of interest highlighting his or her expertise in the subject area and a statement that he or she is able to participate in full capacity. All supporting materials must be submitted to Kyle Shah by Aug. 5, 2015 at 11:59 p.m. CT at: shah@aaos.org
Learn more and submit your application…(member login required)
