The US Department of Justice announced this month the indictment of yet another sham therapy operator in Detroit. According to the DOJ Press Release Evidence at trial established that Bernice Brown was the owner and president of Wayne County Therapeutic Inc. (WCT) in Livonia, Mich. Daniel Smorynski was the vice president of WCT. WCT purported [...]
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) relased their June report to Congress last week. Of note to the rehab and therapy community is Chapter Eight: “Addressing the Growth of Ancillary Services in Physician Offices.” The chapter on ancillary services addresses outpatient therapy including physical, occupational and speech therapies. Of note is the discussion regarding the growth [...]
The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Technology released the final rule today that includes provisions for temporary certification of programs for EHR. (This will eventually be replaced by a permanent certification program). The entire press release can be found at the HHS website. “By purchasing certified EHR technology, hospitals and eligible professionals [...]
Lewis Morris, the Chief Counsel to the Office of the Inspector General (OIG) of HHS provided testimony this morning before the subcommittes on Health & Oversight of the U.S. House Ways and Means Committee. The text of Mr. Morris’s message provides insight into successful fraud and abuse intitatives by the OIG as well as the success [...]
In a recent RACMonitor.com article on The Curious Case of the CORF the CORF was described as an “orphan” program that had conflicting regulatory advice for providers in recent years. The Conditions of Participation, the State Operations Manual Interpretive Guidelines, and various instructions from the Medicare Contractors (fiscal intermediaries and MACs) put the provider at [...]
CMS has issued CR6899 indicating that effective 10-1-2010 outpatient rehab providers will no longer have to report value codes for the number of visits (Code 50 for PT, Code 51 for OT, Code 52 for SLP and Code 53 for Cardiac). This change affects Part A outpatient therapy providers (billing on CMS 1450/UB04) including CORFs, [...]