It turns out that not everyone wants to be on television. New York-Presbyterian found that out the hard way. Back in 2011 the hospital allowed a television camera crew inside treatment areas to record footage for the ABC show “NY Med.” The New York Times quotes a hospital spokesman as saying that the …
Surgeon Leaps First Hurdle in Antitrust Suit
April 22, 2016 Leave a Comment
It could be the Mean Girls sequel we have been anxiously awaiting: a Napa Valley surgeon alleges that his colleagues and area hospitals ruined his reputation and eliminated his practice in violation of federal antitrust laws. A California federal district court ruled that his case was plausible enough to …
Posting Chargemasters On-Line: Less than Meets the Eye
March 24, 2016 Leave a Comment
Michigan is just the latest state to consider legislation requiring hospitals to post their chargemasters on-line. Mich. Sen. Bill 147. These proposals have been popping up since 2013, when Time magazine devoted a full issue to the evils of hospital pricing and identified the chargemaster as the main …
Eighth Circuit Rejects Hospice’s Fifth Amendment Plea
March 11, 2016 Leave a Comment
But not the Fifth Amendment plea you’re thinking of. It was the takings clause, not the self-incrimination clause, that Southeast Arkansas Hospice (SAH) was pleading. And the Eighth Circuit wasn’t buying it. Medicare caps the annual reimbursement a hospice may receive. The program requires repayment …
GAO Report Says Hospital-Physician Consolidation Requires Payment Reform
December 23, 2015 Leave a Comment
Yesterday the Government Accountability Office (GAO) requested that Congress order Health & Human Services to equalize Medicare payments for the same services, whether provided in a physician office or in a hospital outpatient department (HOPD). The report focuses on the ever-increasing consolidation of …
Words Hurt: FTC Challenges Proposed Hospital Merger Using Parties’ Own Statements
November 9, 2015 Leave a Comment
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC or Commission) authorized action on November 6 to block the proposed merger of two hospitals located in Huntington, West Virginia. The FTC issued an administrative complaint alleging that the transaction would create a near monopoly for general acute care inpatient hospital …