Month:

November 2016

Mother and Son Sentenced to Federal Prison for Pharmacy Fraud Scheme

Anais Holland-Rudd Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   Niurka Fernandez, 54, and her son Roberto Alvarez, 26, both plead guilty on August 31, 2016 to one count of conspiracy to commit health care fraud. On November 10th, Fernandez was sentenced to 120 months in prison while Alvarez was sentenced to …
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Donald Trump and What It Means for Regulatory Compliance

Mac Matarieh Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   Inside of President-Elect Donald Trump’s 100 Day Action Plan is a requirement that for every new federal regulation, two existing regulations would be eliminated. Mr. Trump has consistently pushed the narrative of an outright repeal of the Affordable Care Act. Further, Mr. …
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New Era of Healthcare Fraud Investigations Focuses On Individual Accountability

Fannie Fang Executive Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2017   Traditionally, only healthcare corporations were held responsible for healthcare fraud. During an investigation, these corporations were only required to provide contextual information about the underlying factual situation in a fraud investigation. Additionally, healthcare corporations would typically enter into settlement agreements with the …
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MACRA 101: Noteworthy Changes in the Final Rule

Alanna Kroeker Executive Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2017   As our MACRA 101 series comes to an end, this article is intended to point out key differences between the proposed rule released earlier this year and the final rule which was released October 14th.  The lengthy final rule, reaching almost 2,400 …
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How Communications Play a Key Role in the Hospital Readmissions Reduction

Fannie Fang Executive Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2017   CMS has reported that Medicare expenditures amount to roughly 17 billion a year on patient readmissions alone. Studies show that almost twenty percent of all patients who are admitted to a U.S. hospital makes a repeat visit within thirty days of discharge. …
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MACRA 101: Advanced Alternative Payment Models

Bherti Patel Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   The Quality Payment Program (QPP) will reward delivery of quality patient care through the following two programs: the Merit-based Incentive Payment System (MIPS) and the Advanced Alternative Payment Models (APMs). These two programs will allow clinicians and physicians to provide care in a …
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MACRA 101: MIPS and the Clinical Practice Improvement Reporting Category

Christine Bulgozdi Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (“MIPS”) is one of the two different payment methods that MACRA will use for eligible clinicians. Clinicians will be evaluated based on a single Composite Performance Score from four reporting categories: Quality, Resource Use, Advancing Care Information and …
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MACRA 101: MIPS and the Advancing Care Information Category

Alanna Kroeker Executive Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2017   This article will spell out the details for the Advancing Care Information (ACI) category of the Merit Based Incentive Payment System (MIPS).  This category accounts for 25% of a clinician’s overall composite score and is intended to replace the current Meaningful Use …
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MACRA 101: MIPS and the Resource Use Category

Bherti Patel Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   As previously discussed, MIPS will streamline Medicare’s current quality measures into one composite score from four reporting categories: Quality, Resource Use, Advancing Care Information, and Clinical Practice Improvement. This score will then be used to determine the reimbursement to a clinician based …
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MACRA 101: MIPS and the Quality Reporting Category

Christine Bulgozdi Associate Editor Loyola University Chicago School of Law, JD 2018   The Merit-based Incentive Payment System (“MIPS”) is one of the two different payment methods that MACRA will use for eligible clinicians. MIPS replaces the existing fee-for-service model and is expected to be the payment track that most clinicians take. Clinicians will be evaluated …
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