Virginia Jeffries
A federal rule allowing patients to more easily access clinical notes written in their medical records took effect in early April. Supporters of the move from both the patient side and the provider side say the new policy will improve patient outcomes and has very few drawbacks. The “open notes” or “information blocking” rule is […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Under programs set up by the Affordable Care Act, the federal government cuts payments to hospitals that have high rates of readmissions and those with the highest numbers of infections and patient injuries,” Jordan Rau writes for Kaiser Health News. “For the readmission penalties, Medicare cuts as much as 3 percent for each patient, although […]
Jeanne Pinder
The new federal price transparency law is rolling out Jan. 1, 2021, mandating that hospitals have to list prices on their web sites. Describing the new rules, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services say on their website: “Hospital price transparency helps Americans know the cost of a hospital item or service before receiving it. […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Tenet Health got its start as a major hospital operator in the U.S. and can trace its hospital business roots as far back as 1969,” Samantha Liss writes over at Healthcare Dive. “But it may be time to think of the Dallas-based company as an ambulatory surgery center operator, first, and a hospital chain, second. […]
Virginia Jeffries
A Rochester-area woman we introduced you to over the summer has continued to receive hospital bills for a Covid test that never happened. Back in July, Rebecca Oliver and her partner Dan Loncoa went to Rochester Regional Hospital’s emergency room seeking a Covid test, only to be sent home without one and then billed $540 […]
Phoebe Pinder
Earlier this fall, the predominantly Hasidic village of Kiryas Joel, N.Y., managed to drop its positive Covid test rate from 34.2% in the last week of September, to a shocking 4.2% just one month later, the Jewish-American news organization The Forward reported. According to The Forward, town leaders and Gov. Andrew Cuomo of New York […]
Jeanne Pinder
“Amid ongoing concern that drug and device makers may influence medical practice and research, a new analysis suggests the issue also extends to teaching hospitals, which received a total of $832 million in payments for various activities and arrangements other than research in 2018,” Ed Silverman writes over at Stat News. “Of 1,281 teaching hospitals, […]
Jeanne Pinder
For her 30th birthday, Netia McCray asked her partner to help her put her affairs in order and make a will. McCray had been suffering from Covid symptoms for weeks. Unable to get meaningful treatment, she felt close to death. McCray, a Black Boston resident, and other people of color who have had long-lasting symptoms […]
Jeanne Pinder
“The Massachusetts U.S. Attorney’s Office announced that it will sue drug manufacturer Regeneron Pharmaceuticals for health care fraud,” David W.S. Lieberman writes over at The Whistleblower Law Collaborative. “The False Claims Act complaint alleges that Regeneron paid tens of millions of dollars to induce prescriptions for its drug Eylea. Regeneron’s scheme to use a third-party […]
Jeanne Pinder
So I recently went on Medicare, and wanted to put down some thoughts in case they are of assistance to anyone else. I suggest that anyone who’s doing this consider their own specific circumstances very carefully; I am not a licensed insurance broker, and I am not making recommendations here — rather, I am telling […]
