Dear Imaging Center Insider,
As with any Monday, today there is both good and bad news to report. On the positive side, October 2 is the day that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) ends its nine-day payment hold as mandated by section 5203 of the Deficit Reduction Act (DRA) of 2005.
On the bad news front, a clutch of U.S. House and Senate resolutions introduced earlier this year to delay DRA implementation did not come to a vote and have been put off until Congress reconvenes after the November elections.
Although the drastic reimbursement cuts for diagnostic imaging procedures proposed in the DRA have occupied center stage this year for AuntMinnie.com members, radiology administrators and managers should be aware of other elements of the act.
In particular, the DRA will truly change the way that the U.S. enforces Medicaid fraud rules -- and it all starts on January 1 next year when the rules go into effect, according to Rebecca Griffin of HCPro's "Strategies for Health Care Compliance" newsletter. In addition to requiring False Claims Act training of all employees, CMS is mandating that this training be extended to a facility's contractors and agents.
In order to put some teeth into the new requirements, CMS will expand its staff of eight enforcement officers to 100 early next year, and is offering states a percentage of whistleblower recoveries in an effort to expand local as well as federal enforcement.
To learn more about the steps your imaging practice must take to comply with DRA requirements for 2007, click here. As an AuntMinnie.com Imaging Center Insider, you have access to the article days before the rest of our members.
In other news, be sure to check in to the Imaging Center Digital Community later this month for our coverage of the upcoming Radiology Business Management Association Fall Educational Conference in Phoenix. We'll be on the scene to provide you the latest in breaking stories on radiology administration and management.
Finally, if you have a comment or report to share about any aspect of imaging practice, management, administration, regulation, or financing, please contact me at [email protected]. I look forward to hearing from you.
