Government-Enabled Patient “Bounty Hunters”

Posted on June 30, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Spider Webbing Technology May Trip-Up Miscreant Doctors

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA CMP™

HO-JFMS-CD-ROMUnder the Health Insurance Portability Accountability Act (HIPAA), the U. S. Department of Health and Human Service (HHS) have operated an “Incentive Program for Fraud and Abuse Information.”

In this program, HHS pays $100 – $1,000 to Medicare recipients who report abuse in the program.

To assist patients in spotting fraud, HHS has published examples of potential fraud, which include:

  • medical services not provided;
  • duplicated services or procedures;
  • more expenses, services, or procedures claimed for than provided (upcoding/billing);
  • misused Medicare cards and numbers;
  • medical telemarketing scams; and
  • no-medical necessity.

Real Health Fraud Exists

There is no question that real fraud exists. The Office of Inspector General of HHS saved American taxpayers a record $32 billion in 2006, according to Inspector General Glenn A. Fine.  Savings were achieved through an intensive and continuing crackdown on waste, fraud, and abuse in Medicare and over 300 other HHS programs. To discourage flagrant allegations, regulations require that reported information directly contribute to monetary recovery for activities not already under investigation.  For the DRA in 2009, this includes the following:

  • promoting state False Claims Acts (section 6032);
  • enhancing the Fair and Accurate Credit Transaction Act, with “red flags” (PL 108-159); see http://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-108publ159/content-detail.html
  • employee education about false claims recovery (section 6033);
  • augmenting the Medicaid Integrity Program (section 6034);
  • enhancing third party recovery (section 6035); and
  • “mining” medical claims for potential fraud with the help of sophisticated computer technology algorithms – called “spider-webbing” – which locate a common insurance claim denominator and then follow the thread throughout claims review. Indicators of  possible fraud include doctors charging more than peers; providers who administer more tests or procedures per patient; providers who conduct medically “unlikely” procedures; providers who bill for more expensive procedures and equipment when there are cheaper options; and patients who travel long distances for treatment.

Assessment

CMS and private companies are able to save far more money by detecting fraud before claims are paid than recovering the money after the fact. And so, a further erosion of patient confidence can be expected as CMS, and private insurers, assume the “bounty hunter” view of healthcare providers.

Conclusion

Of course, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. Do you feel like the hunter; or the hunted? Tell us what you think? Do you ever – or never –  fear the spider? Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, be sure to subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

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Medical Coding and Billing Vocabulary

Posted on June 11, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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Basic HIT Nomenclature and HIPAA

[By Richard J. Mata; MD, MIS, CMP™ [Hon]

For the Health Information Technology [HIT] department of a hospital, clinic or medical practice and its coders, the following medical vocabularies are mandated by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act [HIPAA].

Diseases 

For diseases: the 9th or 10th International Classification of Diseases (ICD) Clinical Modification should be used.  ICD9-CM is maintained by the Centers for Disease Control National Center for Health Statistics, while ICD-10 is maintained by the World Health Organization.

Procedures

For medical procedures: a combination of ICD-9-CM, Current Procedural Terminology maintained by the American Medical Association, the Current Dental Terminology maintained by the American Dental Association, and Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System (HCPCS) maintained by CMS, which is also used for medical devices.

Pharmaceuticals

For drugs: these should be coded according to their National Drug Code classification.

Assessment

“A recent change to Medicare policy made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) helps ensure claims processing isn’t delayed when the only missing information on the CMS-1490S form is the provider or supplier’s National Provider Identifier (NPI).

CMS Transmittal 1747, Change Request 6434, issued May 22, notifies A/B Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) and carriers of editorial changes to Medicare policy in Pub. 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, chapter 1 regarding the monitoring of claims submission violations and the handling of incomplete or invalid claims.

In either case, as stated in the transmittal, “If the beneficiary furnishes all other information but fails to supply the provider or supplier’s NPI, the contractor shall not return the claim but rather look up the provider or supplier’s NPI using the NPI registry.”

http://www.aapc.com/news/index.php/2009/06/missing-npi-no-reason-to-deny-says-cms/

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Why Coding Professionals?

Posted on June 7, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

More on the NPI, the AAPC, Censorship and Quality Health Care

By Darrell K. Pruitt; DDS

pruittFor those who have been following me recently on Twitter (Proots), you know that unlike me, John Hamm has not yet been kicked off of DrBicuspid, and is awaiting a response from Dr. David J. Pettigrew – a dental coding expert with 14 years of experience as Chief Dental Officer for BCBS of New Jersey. I can only shadow the conversation because, as I said, I was kicked off.

Through John Hamm, I sent word to Dr. Pettigrew that he should just shut up and not enter into a discussion about the NPI number. Pettigrew told Johnhamm that I should come onto the DrBicuspid forum and say that in front of everyone. Of course, I am unable to do that because as shameful as it is to my family, I am still banned from posting anything on DrBicuspid.

For real-time developments concerning Dr. Pettigrew’s public defense of the NPI number, it would be better to follow that chunk of drama on Twitter or DrBicuspid. I’ve got other things cooking here. Can you smell it yet?

As you can see, sports fans, I have had Internet contact with a new class of fat, slow-moving healthcare IT stakeholders, and I haven’t been building long-term relationships fortified by good will – if you know what I mean. 14 years of employment at BCBS of New Jersey fails to impress me much.

American Academy of Professional Coders

Those who have studied alphanumeric science have a national organization called the American Academy of Professional Coders [AAPC] which represents business consultants in a growing healthcare niche. Most are employed by providers who are too busy actually performing healthcare to play games with insurance companies for the money owed them. Like SEO professionals who know gimmicks to increase a client’s page rank in relation to competitors, or perhaps a bolus of bad news from a special bastard, professional coders maximize providers’ profits by keeping on top of the ever-changing hoops involved in paying doctors almost all that is owed them following a shorter than average delay.

ICD-10 is Coming 

Learning coding is job security these days because in a few years the mandated ICD-10 codes will force even dental offices to hire IT staff, which also cuts down on the nation’s unemployment. I’ve taken a peek at the ICD-10, and it makes the ICD-9 look like simple algebra. I’d stick with well-trained coding professionals. They’ll cost more but you do want to approach making a profit, don’t you?

Of Censorship

I submitted the following stinker to be posted on the AAPC Website. To their credit, it was posted almost immediately. That could be a good sign … OOPS! Several minutes later it went back under moderation. I think someone is having problems with it. You’ll have to read it to understand why. It’s tricky to let go of, yet if it remains posted, it looks like a concession. Some poor slob in the AAPC is in a bad position. I hope you are enjoying this as much as I am.

-Darrell

“A recent change to Medicare policy made by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) helps ensure claims processing isn’t delayed when the only missing information on the CMS-1490S form is the provider or supplier’s National Provider Identifier (NPI).

CMS Transmittal 1747, Change Request 6434, issued May 22, notifies A/B Medicare Administrative Contractors (MAC) and carriers of editorial changes to Medicare policy in Pub. 100-04, Medicare Claims Processing Manual, chapter 1 regarding the monitoring of claims submission violations and the handling of incomplete or invalid claims.

In either case, as stated in the transmittal, “If the beneficiary furnishes all other information but fails to supply the provider or supplier’s NPI, the contractor shall not return the claim but rather look up the provider or supplier’s NPI using the NPI registry.”

http://www.aapc.com/news/index.php/2009/06/missing-npi-no-reason-to-deny-says-cms/

“How does an NPI number improve patient care?”

By D. Kellus Pruitt DDS – posted on AAPC Website, 6.4.09

Boxing Gloves I see that nobody from the American Academy of Professional Coders has yet attempted to answer my question. Some visitors to the AAPC Website who have followed the comments to the article “Missing NPI Won’t Delay Processing – CMS” (no byline) may think the lack of an answer is odd – that is if they happen to notice. The novice professional coder who still does not know much about HIPAA could easily assume that since the article itself is almost a week old, the lack of a response to my question is nothing more than the natural fading of interest. At some point, people logically move on to newer posts and other parts of their lives.

But I know a secret.

Based on nothing more than glaring silence from anonymous officials of AAPC, I know that my question of whether the NPI number improves care did not go unnoticed by a few knowledgeable and sharp individuals. They know enough not to touch a transparently trick question. The answer of course is:

The NPI number does nothing to improve patient care (Gasp!)

There’s more. Five years ago informatics experts (coders), promised that the ten digit identification number for providers will speed payments lightning fast. When is the last time you heard that fib? I cannot fault abundant optimism, AAPC, but by now you are surely aware that physicians have had to wait for a year or more for payment because of foul-ups at NPPES. Some have had to take out loans to pay the salaries of coding professionals and other new IT members of their staffs.

Improving Healthcare?

And as far as “improving” patient care? That would be worse than a fib. That would be called a harmful lie that upsets me in a very personal way. I know where it is documented that dental patients have been forced to leave dentists they preferred simply because one-third of the dentists in Texas do not have NPI numbers. BCBSTX requires that their clients only see dentists who have the numbers. Otherwise, the client has to pay their dental bill in full and BCBSTX isn’t even obligated to refund the employer the insurance premium. Yet BCBSTX sales reps tell these employers that their employees can see any Texas dentist they choose.

I’m sorry. Sometimes I ramble.

To keep it fair, I will ask if there is anyone who would like to point out the benefits of the NPI number. Your AAPC members and many others, including enthusiastic newbie coders, are interested in hearing from leaders of the organization. Many careers are built upon the complexities caused by digitalization and informatics. I don’t blame you for the complications. After all, you don’t make the rules – you just get along with them really well. It’s like our unavoidably complicated tax code and accountants. Accountants call themselves professionals. So why the hell shouldn’t you?

The Medical Executive-Post

Let me say that I am grateful that you believe enough in transparency that this comment remains posted. It wouldn’t surprise me if someone briefly considered deleting it until they discovered that it will be on the PennWell forum and probably on the Medical Executive-Post anyway. And of course, we can all see that you chose the honorable thing to do.

NPI Fallacy

The NPI fallacy reminds me of a scene in the Mike Judge movie “Idiocracy,” when a character 500 years in the future named Frito is asked why fields are fruitlessly irrigated with a politically-correct brand of green colored sports drink instead of water. Frito, who got his law degree from Costco, doesn’t even have to suffer minimal thought before he quickly repeats what he’s heard so many times, “’Cause it’s got ‘lectrolytes.”

Grnerod finds it incredible that I don’t have an NPI number. “How on earth are you billing and getting paid without an NPI?”

I told him (?) that I don’t work if I don’t get paid. Call me an old school radical.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. What are your feelings on the NPI situation? Does it really improve health care, or not? Feel free to review our top-left column, and top-right sidebar materials, links, URLs and related websites, too. Then, be sure to subscribe to the ME-P. It is fast, free and secure.

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Doctors Preventing Medical Identity Theft

Posted on April 7, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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More on the “Red Flag” Rules

[Staff Reporters]

According to MedicalNews, Inc and Lynne Jeter, the Medicare “Red-Flag” rules are set to take affect on May 1, 2009.

Three Categories

And, according to David Williams, CPA, FHFMA, a healthcare partner for HORNE in Jackson, Mississippi, the Red Flag guidelines for hospitals, clinics and medical practices can be broken down into three categories.


1. Red Flags that definitely apply to healthcare:

  • Documents provided for identification appear altered or forged.
  • Photographs or a physical description on file are not consistent with the appearance of the patient.
  • Other inconsistent information identifies the patient.
  • Inconsistent signatures are on file.
  • Patient forms or applications appear forged, altered, or destroyed and re-assembled.

2. Red Flags that may apply to healthcare:

  • Statements sent to the patient – or guarantor – that is returned as un-deliverable despite ongoing transactions on active records.

3. Red Flags that most likely do not apply to healthcare:

  • A fraud alert is included with a consumer report.
  • A consumer reporting agency provides notice of a credit freeze in response to a request for a consumer report, a notice of address discrepancy, and/or unusual credit activity.
  • Financial institutions and creditors use challenge questions that the person opening the covered account cannot answer with readily available information.
  • A request is made for new, additional or replacement cards or the addition of authorized users on the account shortly after a change of address request.
  • A new revolving credit account is used in a manner commonly associated with known patterns of fraud patterns.
  • The use of a covered account is inconsistent with established patterns of activity on the account.
  • There is unexplained usage of a covered account that has been inactive for a reasonably lengthy period of time.

Assessment

Link: http://www.medicalnewsinc.com/news.php?viewStory=222

Conclusion

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Defining Current Dental Terminology [CDT®] Codes

Posted on April 5, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

What they Are – How they Work

By Staff Reportersdhimc-book1

OMAP Unique Procedure Codes*

The HHS [Health and Human Services] Office of Medical Assistance Program’s [OMAP] unique procedure codes were originally listed in the appropriate service guides. The maintenance of these codes was the responsibility of OMAP. These procedure codes were reviewed as needed and deleted either when a program no longer exists or when other Healthcare Common Procedure Coding System [HCPCS] codes are created which fully describe the service. Most of the unique codes were created to meet the needs of specialized services or programs. OMAP’s unique procedure codes were all five character configurations with the following alpha/numeric combinations: four numeric/one alpha (e.g., 7300Y); three numeric, two alpha (e.g., 206EP); two alpha/three numeric (e.g., BA311); or three alpha/two numeric (e.g., VIS01).

Current Dental Terminology (CDT procedure codes)

The American Dental Association’s (ADA) Code on Dental Procedures and Nomenclature is contained in the CDT-3 user guide. The maintenance of these codes is the responsibility of the Council on Dental Benefit Programs with consultation from: Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, the Health Insurance Association of America, the Health Care Financing Association, National Electronic Information Corporation, and the American Dental Association recognized dental specialty organizations. The ADA updates the user guide approximately every five years. CDT codes are five-character, alpha-numeric configurations (e.g., D2110). Contact the American Dental Association to obtain a current copy of the CDT-3 Users Manual.

* Note: Due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requirements, Medicare Local codes and OMAP Unique codes were replaced with national standard procedure codes. 

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Assessment

For more terminology information, please refer to the Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance.

www.HealthDictionarySeries.com

Conclusion

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Defining Current Procedural Terminology [CPT®] Codes

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

What they are – How they work

By Staff Reportersdhimc-book

The American Medical Association’s Physicians’ Current Procedural Terminology® is contained in the CPT user guide. The maintenance of these codes is the responsibility of the American Medical Association with consultation from the AMA CPT Editorial Panel, Advisory Committee, and the AMA CPT Health Care Professionals Advisory Committee. Procedure codes in the CPT user guide are reviewed and revised annually. The Health Care Financing Administration’s – now CMS – Common Procedure Coding System [HCPCS] lists three levels:  

Level I National Codes

CPT codes are five-character, all numeric configurations (e.g., 99215). Contact the American Medical Association to obtain a current copy of the CPT® Users Manual.

Level II National Codes

The HCPCS Level II National codes are contained in the HCPCS user’s guide and are published in the Federal Register. The maintenance of these codes is the responsibility of the Health Care Financing Administration [CMS]. Procedure codes in the HCPCS user guide are reviewed and revised annually. HCPCS codes are five characters with one alpha and four numeric configurations (e.g., A0042). Contact any publishing company that provides medical coding reference books to obtain a current copy of the current HCPCS User Manual.

Level III Medicare Local Codes*

Historically, local Medicare carriers developed local procedure codes which were published in the local Medicare Newsletters. The maintenance of these codes was the responsibility of the local Medicare carrier. Medicare local procedure codes were all five-character configurations with the following alpha/numeric configuration: one alpha, (W, X, Y or Z) with four numeric configurations (e.g., Y5523); and two alphas, (W, X, Y or Z) same character with three numeric identifiers (e.g., XX001). Contact your local Medicare carriers to obtain their Medicare Newsletters.

* Note: Due to HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) requirements, Medicare Local codes and the Office of Medicare Assistance Program Unique [OMAPU] codes were replaced with national standard procedure codes. 

Assessment

For more terminology information, please refer to the Dictionary of Health Economics and Finance.

Conclusion

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Evaluate our 2-Volume Institutional Print Guide

Posted on April 4, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Healthcare Organizations [Financial Management Strategies]

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Our 1,200 pages, 2-volume, quarterly institutional print guide Healthcare Organizations [Financial Management Strategies] is available on a 30-day, risk-free trial.

You may contact http://www.STPub.com at (604) 983-3434, fax (604) 983-3445, or e-mail at custinfo@stpub.com to place an order, or ask questions regarding pricing and/or availability.

All shipments arrive within 5 to 10 days. Prepayment is required for all international shipments and a small courier charge will be added to the subscription price.

After hours, we suggest you review the STP website FAQs section for answer to your inquiry: www.stpub.com/pubs/custinfo.htm

Assessment

Rest assured, Healthcare Organizations: [Financial Management Strategies] will become an important peer-reviewed vehicle for the advancement of working knowledge and the dissemination of research information and best practices in our field. In the years ahead, we trust these principles will enhance utility and add value to your subscription. Most importantly, we hope to increase your return on investment [ROI] by some small increment.

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Note: The guide is sponsored by www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com with contributions from www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com and is edited by ME-P’s Dr. David E. Marcinko and Professor Hope R. Hetico; RN, MHA. Definitions and terms supplied by www.HealthDictionarySeries.com

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated? Reviews from current journal-guide subscribers are encouraged and appreciated.

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Reflections on a Tent Hospital

Posted on March 28, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Thoughts on Pop-Up Healthcare Facilities

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; FACFAS, MBA, CMP™

Publisher-in-Chiefdr-david-marcinko13

According to the Philadelphia Inquirer, February 10, 2009, it took Mark Ross about 22 minutes to inflate the hospital for the first time. Yesterday, he did it in 14 minutes. In the event of a large-scale emergency – a direct hit by a hurricane for example, or a plane in the Delaware River [Think Hudson River, NY]  – Ross and other volunteers can have the mobile hospital running anywhere in Southeastern Pennsylvania within two to four hours of the first alert.

The Valley Forge Experiment

The day before, on February 9, in Valley Forge PA, dozens of current and potential volunteers got to see three tan and white tents – and reams of equipment – for the first time. The $1 million cost was paid by state and federal governments. With a portable generator, 50 cots, 130 ventilators, 26 wireless cardiac monitors and 27 patient carts loaded with tongue depressors, eye shields and IV sets, the rapid-response team is intended to fill the 72- hour gap before federal emergency help arrives after a disaster.

Back-in-the-Day

Now, despite this Valley Forge innovation, mobile, semi-permanent and pop-up healthcare facilities are not a new machination in civilian life or non-warfare times. In fact, please allow me to tell you of my canvass tent-hospital experience, back in the late seventies.

My Tent Hospital

At the time, I was completing my training program as a senior attending resident [SAR], and surgical fellow. The “hospital” where I moonlighted was located in a sleepy town about 40 miles North of Atlanta, Ga. Driving there in my lime-green, oil-burning 1969 Chevrolet Impala with balding tires [retreads] was always novel experience.

As I recall history, the tent-hospital began as a private medical clinic in a three bedroom converted brick ranch-house that was the style in the late 1950s’-60s. It was the private practice of a solo practitioner-internist for his rural patients who lived on farms too far from the big city – or for patient’s who mistrusted the medical establishment. There were many. It grew quickly, from the days before Medicare/Medicaid reimbursements, to modernity.

Think Cirque du Soleil

Expanding to a larger facility, with sparse economic resources, necessitated innovative thinking at the time. The hospital itself was a very large circular tent [bulls-eye configuration], built on semi-permanent concrete foundation with trampoline-like floor. The tent was shaped like a disc or sphere. In the center was an operating room for the visiting general surgeon. The next concentric layer was comprised of four rooms. The admissions, records department and triage room; a dirty-room with toilet; a clean room with bed and shower; and a kitchen with doctor/nurse station and lounge. The next third outer concentric layer consisted of about twelve patient “rooms”. The patients entered each room from the inner second layer, while the doctors and nurses opened a door-slot on the outer third layer for the introduction of food, information, gowns and equipment, visitor chit-chat and medications, etc. Each room was muck like a dungeon, jail or cell [Recall the Seinfeld episode where Kramer housed visiting Asians in his cabinet drawer or shelf]. The docs and nurses continually circulated the third outer “floor” layer, ministering to their respective patients. By the way; no staff nurse ever complained of tired feet, leg soreness or calf cramps because of the springy trampoline-like floor.

Not a TV MASH Unit

tent-man

This “hospital” was not like a military MASH unit, at all. It was definitely civilian in nature, purpose and construct:

Think: Army CASH unit; not MASH unit.

CASH = Combat Army Surgical Hospital [semi-permanent].

MASH = Mobile Army Surgical Hospital [ambulatory]  

My Experiences

During my summer working there, I managed a small part-time, two-room medical clinic with a singular nurse. We treated all sort of minor injuries and ills, cuts, scrapes; boils and blisters; aches and sprains; dog bites, bee stings and allergies, and simple closed extremity fractures, infections, etc. I even operated on a half-dozen patients under local anesthesia with conscious sedation. For the holidays, I received presents from several nurses and patients who remembered me from the previous summer.

New Facility

My “tent hospital” was in operation for almost two decades before the founding physician retired. The site was replaced by a publically funded, much larger and permanent “modern” facility, as the surrounding suburbs grew. The new Woodstock Hospital is now a short-term facility, with 21 beds, but is not yet rated by any hospital service agency because of statistically low volume requirements. It is a District Authority owned hospital facility.

Source: Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services for the years 2005-2007. 

Assessment

Now, here’s the thing. My tent-hospitals’ claim-to-fame was that it, at the time of closure, was the only hospital in the State of Georgia to have never had a hospital acquired [nosocomial] or post-operative infection? To my knowledge, the feat has not been duplicated in this state. Of course, the new facility was not so fortunate. Increased medical acuity, treatment services and a different-mobile patient population was cited as the likely culprit.

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. Quality initiatives are good. And, health 2.0 information technology is the future of medicine. But, sometimes, prologue is past.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

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The Future of Hospitals

Posted on February 28, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Between a “Rock and Hard Place”

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA, CMP™

By Hope Rachel Hetico; RN, MHA, CMP™rock-and-hard-place

A recent white paper by the Joint Commission suggests that hospitals must respond in new ways to meet the increasing complexity of patient care and to address rising health care costs. Duh! What an insight. Why did it take so long for them to declare same?

 

The Hospital Accreditation Competition Heats-Up

Was it because of competition from DNV Healthcare Inc? Was it their new ability to determine if hospitals are in compliance with Medicare Conditions of Participation [COP]? DNV joins the Joint Commission on the Accreditation of Healthcare Organizations [JCAHO], and the American Osteopathic Association [AOA], as the only national hospital accrediting agency approved by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS].

Link: https://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2008/10/03/hospital-accreditation

Recommendations

Nevertheless, the JCAHO report recommends action in five areas:

  • Economic viability and ROI
  • Technology adoption and use
  • Patient-centered collaborative care
  • Medical and human resources staffing
  • Hospital architectural design

Patient Centered-Philosophy

Of course, it is no surprise that patient-centered care should be philosophically at the core of any partnership between a patient and his/her hospital and medical providers. Yet, just think of the last time you saw your HMO doctor and tried to engage in a collaborative health 2.0 discussion with him/her? Na-da!

Health Information Technology

The Joint Commission, despite the interoperable eHR controversy often presented on this blog, suggests that technology adoption can play a major role in improving patient care, safety and quality.

Link: https://healthcarefinancials.wordpress.com/2008/12/19/the-case-against-inter-operable-ehrs

This transformation from paper to electronic records, according to the report, will involve:

  • Making the business case for ROI and funding
  • Redesigning business processes with HIT implementation
  • Extending the digital footprint to the “medical-home”
  • Engaging IT leaders for guidance on prior mistakes 
  • Improve workflow – minimize labor intensive activities

Of Hospital “Insider” Administrators

One local hospital administrator insider, here in Atlanta, confidentially tells us that a single hospital bed is currently worth about a million bucks a year to the institution; private or public. And, the mantra of most hospital CEOs to staff doctors, is: “fill the beds”; “schedule the procedures”; and/or “book the operating rooms.”  So, the priorities outlined in the report really don’t seem appropriate; do they?

IOW: Put the hospital first; not the patient? And, this echoed our experience in hospital administration two decades ago. Has anything changed?

Assessment

Nevertheless, it may be refreshing to see an approach to healthcare technology implementation that seems to leverage the experience and knowledge of other industries. Privacy concerns however, are the biggest obstacle to HIT and true inter-operable eMRs, in our opinion. Yet, it doesn’t need to be. Who cares if grandma has a bunion, or dad had his cataracts repaired. They aren’t running for public office; are they?

The road to the Hospital of the Future will be bumpy, but we are hopeful enough to trust the benefits will be great once we arrive.

Full report: hosptals-future 

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. Are hospitals today “between a rock and hard place?” Is technology and business process reorganization being offered as a substitute for critical thinking and true collaborative medicine? Especially, in light of the healthcare capitalistic thrust to: “do more – in order to earn more.”

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

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WellCare Medicare-Advantage Scandal

Posted on February 25, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

Company “Misled and Confused Medicare Beneficiaries”?

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; FACFAS, MBA, CMP™dr-david-marcinko20

According to Jacob Goldstein, of the WSJ, on February 20, 2009, WellCare the publicly traded company that some folks “love-to-hate”, and manages health coverage for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries, is in trouble again. In a recent letter, the Feds ordered the company to stop enrolling new Medicare beneficiaries, effective March 7, 2009. The sanction will be in effect until the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] is satisfied that the company has corrected the alleged deficiencies.

Letter from the Feds

Adjusted for enrollment, the rate of complaints about WellCare’s marketing of Medicare Advantage plans are three times the national average, the letter says. The letter goes on to allege that the company “misled and confused Medicare beneficiaries” and “engaged in unauthorized door-to-door solicitation.” CMS also accuses WellCare’s agents of “misleading beneficiaries and misrepresenting WellCare plans at sales events in December 2008″ and failing to “discover forged applications through its own monitoring systems.” Of course, the company said it would continue to work with independent third-parties to ensure that it is compliant with CMS.

Click here to read the letter.

Oh Regina – Say it Ain’t So!

Finally, and perhaps the most personally distasteful for me in this whole sordid affair is not the fact that WellCare allegedly tried to rip off old folks. It’s just that Dr. Regina Herzlinger, the Harvard Business School professor – mother of a physician herself and proponent of healthcare competition and Consumer Directed Health Care Plans [CDHCPs] and a WellCare BOD member – apparently sold $2.3 million worth of stock in Wellcare three months before the FBI arrived.

Assessmentbiz-book5

 I first became aware of Regina Herzlinger’s work while in business school [not HBS] in the early 1990s. I recall calling her office for advice and referencing her several times in both editions of my best-selling book, the Business of Medical Practice [Profit Maximizing Techniques for Savvy Doctors]. She even came to Piedmont Hospital, here in Atlanta, last year on a healthcare speaking tour promoted in the local newspapers. What a shame. All co-incidence; ask Regina? Link: www.MedicalBusinessAdvisors.com

Industry Indignation Index: 35

Full disclosure: I am the founder of www.CertifiedMedicalPlanner.com and a reformed insurance agent, registered investment advisor and Certified Financial Planner™

Conclusion

And so, your thoughts and comments on this Medical Executive-Post are appreciated. Do you think WellCare “Misled and Confused Medicare Beneficiaries?” You may opine and decide.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

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AMA Sues to Keeps Medicare Claims Data Private

Posted on February 12, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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AMA Wins Appeal to Blind Consumers’ Checkbook

[By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA]human-drones

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] does not have to turn over physician-specific Medicare claims data requested by not-for-profit Consumers’ Checkbook under the Freedom of Information Act, the U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia ruled in an opinion delivered January 30th.

AMA and DHHS

According to Gregg Blesch of Modern Healthcare, on 2/2/09, the American Medical Association [AMA] joined the Department of Health and Human Services [DHHS] in appealing a 2007 decision that the data should be subject to disclosure, but the appeals court concluded the physicians’ privacy interest outweighs the consumer group’s assertions that the data would be used in the public interest.

Three Decade DHHS Legal Conundrum

DHHS, meanwhile, was not concerned so much with privacy as with its own legal conundrum involving a 1979 federal injunction barring the release of Medicare data that identifies individual physicians. A 2008 statement explaining the decision to appeal said the department “recognizes and shares the goals of Consumers’ Checkbook” and was seeking a legal way for the government to share Medicare claims data as part of its own quality initiatives.

Link: http://www.ama-assn.org

About Consumer’s Checkbook

Consumers’ Checkbook/The Center for the Study of Services is an independent, nonprofit consumer organization founded in 1974 with the help of funding from the U.S. Office of Consumer Affairs. Its’ purpose is to provide consumers information to help them get high quality services and products at the best possible prices. The organization is supported entirely by subscription payments and donations from individual consumers who subscribe to its magazines, and by fees for surveys, and information services and books. They do not accept donations from businesses and their publications carry no advertising.

Link: http://www.checkbook.org

About the AMA

The home page of the AMA website states the organization is “helping doctors help patients.”  Is this really the case; or mere rhetoric? Is it true that less than 20% of the nations MDs are members?

Assessment

Consumers’ Checkbook said it would use the data to show the frequency with which physicians performed certain procedures; expose how much Medicare pays physicians who have disciplinary histories or poor evaluations; and determine whether they were fulfilling standards of recommended care. The court found each argument wanting.

Industry Indignation Index Rating: 85

Conclusion

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Ban on Referenced Based Drug Pricing

Posted on January 30, 2009 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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A Medicare and CMS Three-Sixty

[By Staff Reporters]rboa_16

According to Jane Zhang and Vanessa Fuhrmans of the Wall Street Journal, on January 10, 2009, the last days of the Bush administration saw a proposed ban that allows private insurers to charge Medicare beneficiaries stiff penalties if they choose brand-name drugs instead of cheaper generic drugs.

Referenced Based Pricing

Under reference-based drug pricing, the penalty for insisting on a brand-name drug often amounts to the price difference between the drug and the generic version, plus a copayment. In some cases, that leaves patients paying the full price of the brand-name drug. In contrast, buyers of brand-name drugs when there is no generic equivalent are charged just a copayment. Nearly 10% of drug plans used the pricing technique to steer beneficiaries to lower-cost generics www.HealthDictionarySeries.com 

CMS Announcement

Of course, the announcement from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services came after lawmakers and patient advocates protested that reference-based pricing made it difficult for consumers to calculate drug costs.

CMS Renouncement

But, the agency reversed itself 360 degrees this week, proposing to ban such pricing for the 2010 drug plans. The WSJ reported that complicated formulas made it “very difficult to accurately convey the extent of expected out-of-pocket spending” for prescription drugs. And, “The basis for this decision is our belief that reference-based pricing may be inherently misleading to beneficiaries and inconsistent with our goal of improving transparency.”

The Pfizer-Wyeth Drug Deal

Following the ban, investors appeared skeptical about the just announced Pfizer-Wyeth drug deal. Pfizer will pay $68 billion for Wyeth, which is the biggest in the drug sector since 2000. The merger comes as Pfizer faces the difficult hurdle of dealing with patent expirations for some of its biggest drugs, including its cholesterol-lowering Lipitor, which makes up about 25% of the company’s overall sales.

Assessment

The ban is part of CMS’s criteria for prescription-drug plans that insurers will offer for 2010. The criteria won’t be final until March, leaving a narrow window for the Obama administration to change them.

Conclusion

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Filed under: "Doctors Only", Drugs and Pharma, Ethics, Managed Care, Research & Development | Tagged: , , , | 7 Comments »

2009 Physician Fee Schedule

Posted on December 5, 2008 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

CMS Issues Final Rule

Staff Reporters

coinsAccording to the American Medical News on November 24, legislation enacted in July reversed a 10.6 percent cut that took effect at the beginning of that month, while starting in January 2009, a 1.1 percent across-the-board increase will replace an additional roughly 5 percent cut that would have gone into effect if lawmakers had not acted.

Bonus Opportunities

Because the rule applies payment changes related to the most recent five-year adjustment in Medicare relative values for certain services, some physician specialties might see updates slightly larger than or smaller than 1.1 percent. But, CMS stressed that two bonus opportunities exist to more than quadruple the raise that doctors will get for the year.

Example:

For example, physicians who successfully participate in the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative [PQRI] will receive a 2 percent bonus on all of their Medicare payments for the year, while the program for the first time will award a separate 2 percent bonus to physicians who successfully prescribe medications electronically for their Medicare patients.

Assessment

Although the sums will not be paid out until sometime in 2010, after Medicare has processed all of next year’s claims, this means the maximum effective raise for 2009 will be 5.1 percent.

Conclusion

What do you think about this fee increase? Your thoughts and comments on this Executive-Post are appreciated.

Speaker: If you need a moderator or speaker for an upcoming event, Dr. David E. Marcinko; MBA – Publisher-in-Chief of the Executive-Post – is available for seminar or speaking engagements. Contact: MarcinkoAdvisors@msn.com  or Bio: www.stpub.com/pubs/authors/MARCINKO.htm

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Exposing Medicare and Insurance Sales Commission Scams

Posted on November 3, 2008 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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Some Agents and Brokers May Be Cashing-In

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA, CMP™

[Publisher-in-Chief]

According to the Associated Press, on October 25, 2008, Medicare Advantage’s agents stand to make $500 to $550 this year. This happens by enrolling a beneficiary into one of their HMO type managed care type plans, while the agents could make another $500 for every year the beneficiary stays with the plan. It represents a financial reward that is raising concerns that agents and brokers will work too aggressively to enroll people into HMO plans that don’t meet their health needs; or where traditional Medicare may be a better personal fit.

CMS to Take Action

Representative Peter Stark (D-California) has urged the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] to consider capping the commissions, while Kerry Weems, the acting administrator for CMS, said the agency plans to take action soon.

Insurance Policy “Twisting” and “Churning”

According to the Dictionary of Health Insurance and Managed Care, and others:www.HealthDictionarySeries.com:

  • Policy Twisting is the use of trickery to get someone to lapse an insurance policy and purchase a new one; usually in another company.

  • Policy Churning is a related fraudulent practice where an agent tricks a policy holder to fund a new one with the same insurer. Important information about the full consequences of their action is dishonestly withheld.

Both tactics are typically done to increase sales agent/broker commission income.

Scam Alerts

Although much more common with life insurance policies, each state has an insurance department that will help you if you think you’ve been scammed. Visit their website or office and you’ll get help on what to do. Many reputable insurance companies will quickly compensate you once it’s established that you were a victim of such fraud. Make sure you don’t waste you time by complaining to an insurer’s branch office. Contact the main office for swift response.

Assessment

America‘s Health Insurance Plans [AHIPs], the trade group representing insurers, encouraged CMS to develop clear and consistent standards, while two of the major players in the program, Humana Corporation and UnitedHealth Group both said that they welcomed regulation of insurance agent commissions. WellPoint and Cigna are the two other major health insurance companies in this country.

Conclusion

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The NPI Debate Heats Up

Posted on August 31, 2008 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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Questionable Benefits for Providers

[By Darrell Pruitt; DDS]pruitt

I really hate lies!

Even though I have been a member of the American Dental Association [ADA] for 26 years, and intend to remain a member for the rest of my life, I cannot stand by silently any longer while my professional organization uses lies and/or deception to trick trusting members into volunteering for NPI numbers. 

Now, to see what I mean, please read what the ADA tells dentists about the benefits of the NPI number http://www.ada.org/prof/resources/topics/npi.asp

  • 1. Once implemented across the entire health care industry, the NPI will be accepted by all dental plans as a valid provider identifier on electronic dental claims and other standard electronic transactions.
  • 2. Dentists will not have to maintain multiple, arbitrary identifiers required by dental plans, nor will they have to remember which number to use with which dental plan.
  • 3. NPIs introduce an important element of standardization to electronic transactions that should improve transaction acceptance rates.   

Questionable Benefits Review

See what I mean? Now let’s review:  

  • 1. Number one clearly benefits only insurers and number three is unwashed tyranny.  The smell of sweet buzzwords counter-balancing the odor of the verb “should” immediately revealed to me traditional PR hucksterism … and I’ve seen better. The NPI number, which is conveniently necessary for electronic transactions, will only make it cheaper for insurers to deny claims.  I think anyone can see that denials will increase for natural, bottom line reasons.
  • 2. That leaves benefit number two – reduction of ID numbers – as dentists’ last hope of a return on investment in the voluntary NPI.  And, ROI could take a while.  In the first place, how much do multiple identification numbers actually slow dentistry production in a computerized dental office?  Why don’t we get silly?
  • 3. Of all things, for the ADA to list simplification as a benefit of the NPI is embarrassing, but here is what will make a few ADA leaders avoid each other in the halls of Headquarters next week. Even though the promise of simplification is lame, it is technically the only benefit the NPI number lends dentists and their patients.

Enter the AAFP

Here now, is some fresh bad-news for certain ADA leaders and members who trusted their advice. 

In an article that was posted yesterday on the American Academy of Family Physicians (AAFP) website, it looks like CMS reneged on simplification.

http://www.aafp.org/online/en/home/publications/news/news-now/practice-management/20080829keep-ptans.html

PTANS 

“Notice to physicians: Hold on to your Medicare Provider Transaction Access Numbers [PTANs], also known as legacy numbers which were to have been retired after the mandatory use of National Provider Identifier [NPI] numbers on May 23.” CMS has found another use for those old PTANs.”

Imagine that.  Instead of eliminating all of those identifiers as promised, the NPI is just one more number to add to the hard drive.

Assessment

Regardless, patients don’t suffer harm from all this, right?  Wrong. 

I’ll describe harm from HIPAA, the biggest blunder in the history of dentistry, and medicine, next time. 

Conclusion

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CMS to Bonus Doctors for PQRI

Posted on July 31, 2008 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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July – December 2007 Reporting Period

[By Staff Reporters]ME-P Logo.2

According to Anne Zieger, of Fierce Health Finance, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] will pay out more than $36 million in monetary incentives to medical providers who reported data on quality of care delivered between July 2007 and December 2007; as part of its Physician Quality Reporting Initiative [PQRI]. 

Physician Quality Reporting Initiative [PQRI]

Under the PQRI, healthcare providers who choose to participate get bonuses of 1.5 percent of their total CMS payments during the reporting period in which they reported quality data.

Assessment

Average payments for the most recent period range from $600 for individual physicians to $4,700 for groups. The largest payment CMS plans to make to a practice is more than $205,700. Solo physicians, physician group practices, and other PQRI-eligible professionals should receive their payments by August, according to the agency.

Source: CMS press release

Conclusion

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Filed under: Career Development, Health Economics, Health Law & Policy, Healthcare Finance, Quality Initiatives, Surveys and Voting | Tagged: , , , | 14 Comments »

RAC Contractors to be Identified

Posted on July 19, 2008 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

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CMS Aims to Reduce Fraud

[By Staff Writers]

This month, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services [CMS] will name the auditing firms that will review hospitals’ books for payment mistakes, while hospital officials say results in other states suggest the auditors will give priority to recovering overpayments.

The RAC Program

Under the so-called Recovery Asset Contractor [RAC] program, CMS pays auditors a fee based on the amount of improper payments discovered.

Hospital officials worry this “bounty hunter” approach – the second for CMS after medical practice audits – will create a bias in auditors to focus only on collecting government overpayments, reported the Pittsburgh Business Times on June 16, 2008.

Pilot Program Results

Some hospitals point to a pilot audit program in New York, Florida and California, which found $357.2 million in overpayments and just $14.3 million in underpayments. Medicare estimates its error rate at 3.9 percent in 2007, down from 9.8 percent in 2003, but still totaling $10.8 billion in improper payments

Assessment

Is this another instance of brute intimidation or just honest review?

Conclusion

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Supply and Demand in Medical Care

Posted on December 19, 2007 by Dr. David Edward Marcinko MBA MEd CMP™

The Imperfect Competitive Medical Marketplace

By Dr. David Edward Marcinko; MBA, CMP™

By Hope Rachel Hetico; RN, MHA, CMP™biz-book1 

The issue is not how to fill or reuse empty beds. In this changing environment, hospitals and health systems must focus on streamlining and simplifying operational processes, facilitating case management, promoting the least costly setting for care delivery, and optimizing resource sharing among departments. When hospitals have addressed these issues, then solutions to the “bed problem” will be obvious.

-Cynthia Hayward, 1996

How and why the current healthcare imbroglio happened is very complex, but here is a brief synopsis of current supply-demand inequalities.

A Definition of Medical Care 

Medical care is defined as the finite examination and treatment of patients, for monetary compensation. Among other reasons, changes in patient demand may occur as a result of the absence or presence of health insurance plans or the encouragement of additional treatments by profit maximizing providers. 

Health Economics 101 

Changes in supply occur as a result of physician shortages or surpluses and a host of other factors. Until recently, a glut of physicians has caused them to become “price takers,” selling a homogenous service.

How else could aggregate HMO fee schedules drop to some percentage below prevailing Medicare or Medicaid rates in some instances? Or, how else could otherwise qualified physicians be de-selected from managed healthcare plans because of large (successful equates with expensive) practices? 

The Supply-Demand Curve 

A graphical representation of this economic relationship produces the classic downward sloping demand curve and the upward sloping supply curve. At some point in time however, the treatment plan is completed, the patient is satisfied, and additional services are not needed. This is known as market equilibrium.  

When an industry becomes more competitive – either by too much supply or too little demand – market equilibrium fees tend to become elastic while patient volume becomes very sensitive to even small changes in price. This may be where we have arrived, right now relative to medical price elasticity. 

Medical Price Elasticity 

In a managed care environment, every covered service has a low price ceiling and every “non-covered” service has its own price elasticity.   

Traditionally, medical services were inelastic to price changes and considered a growth industry since a fee increase would also increase revenues.  Now, the marketplace has become resistant to pricing pressure by physician oversupply and managed care.  

Generally, a pricing coefficient greater than one is considered elastic, while a coefficient less than one is inelastic.

Interestingly, exact unity prevails when elasticity of supply is exactly equal to one.  

In the golden days of medicine, the price elasticity of medical care was greater than 1, now it is about .35 and diminishing 

Meaning to Doctors 

Financially, all this means that many doctors are “taking what they’re given (by HMOs, CMS, etc), because they’re working for a living”.   

Younger doctors under 40 are especially inclined to work for less since they have had little exposure to fee-for-service compensation. Older doctors are retiring. Middle-Agers are frustrated. 

Additionally, physicians have an increasingly smaller share of the medical marketplace because of so-called medical care extenders, such as PAs and nurse practitioner’s.

Some health plans have even done away with many true allied healthcare professionals, such as RN’s or CRNAs, in favor of trained, not educated, and less costly technicians.  

Conclusion

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Despite the financial impact of managed care on doctors, patients may also be hurt physically as the economic cost of medical re-intervention is often much more than the cost of the proposed initial professional care.  

For example, a study by Deloitte & Touche a few years ago, reported employee satisfaction was decreasing about 10 percent per year, as healthcare coverage represented a fiscal and economic time bomb on corporate books. 

How would you comment on the above in light of the IOM on medical errors and mistakes, findings a few years back?

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