Articles and Blogs

Executive Summary In the FY 2015 Inpatient PPS Final Rule, CMS did not finalize problematic changes to the cost reporting requirements that the agency introduced in the proposed rule.  On behalf of clients of Hall Render and Baker Healthcare Consulting, Hall Render previously opposed the proposed rule in comments to CMS and consultations with... READ MORE

Executive Summary On July 29, 2014, legislation designed to both combat prescription drug abuse and ensure patient access to prescription drugs advanced by voice vote in the House of Representatives. This legislation, bolstered by bipartisan sponsorship from Reps. Marsha Blackburn (R-TN), Judy Chu (D-CA), Tom Marino (R-PA) and Peter Welch (D-VT) is designed to... READ MORE

Executive Summary The Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) released five regulatory and guidance documents pertaining to compounding in an effort to provide clarity to pharmaceutical stakeholders.  The documents, issued pursuant to the Drug Quality and Security Act (“Act”), describe expectations regarding compliance with current good manufacturing practices (“cGMPs”) for compounding outsourcing facilities and standards... READ MORE

On Wednesday, July 15, Governor Beshear filed emergency regulations establishing new health facility licensure categories called “behavioral health services organizations” and “residential crisis stabilization units.” Beshear states that these new health facility licenses will increase Kentuckians’ access to mental health treatment and will help them avoid higher levels of care. 902 KAR 20:430E establishes... READ MORE

On July 15, a new law in Kentucky took effect that expands the prescribing authority for advanced practice registered nurses (“APRNs”). Kentucky Revised Statutes 314.042 allows APRNs that have been prescribing non-scheduled legend drugs under physician supervision for four years to prescribe these drugs without physician oversight. Proponents of the law say that the... READ MORE

Background On July 14, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published a proposed rule that would allow physician-owned hospitals to use additional data sources to support requests for exceptions to the ban on expansion of physician-owned hospitals.1 Under the Affordable Care Act’s (“ACA’s”) amendments to the Physician Self-Referral Law (“Stark Law”),... READ MORE

Kentucky pharmacists take note: soon you may have to update your prescription drug tracking and dispensation procedures to reflect proposed changes to the Kentucky Administrative Regulations. Section 045 of Chapter 55 in Title 902 of the Kentucky Administrative Regulations currently contains a list of drugs that are excluded from the licensing, distribution, recordkeeping and... READ MORE

On July 14, 2014, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) issued the Outpatient Prospective Payment System Proposed Rule for Calendar Year 2015 (“Proposed Rule”), but the Proposed Rule also addresses issues unrelated to OPPS.  Among other changes, the Proposed Rule eliminates the physician certification statement requirement for most inpatient stays paid under... READ MORE

S.2501 Eliminates Readmission Penalties Related to Patient Socioeconomic Status On June 19, 2014, U.S. Senators Manchin, Wicker, Kirk and Nelson introduced Senate Bill 2501 entitled The Hospital Readmissions Program Accuracy and Accountability Act of 2014 (“S.2501”) to ensure that hospitals experiencing excessive readmissions are not financially penalized for serving low-income patients.  S.2501 was referred... READ MORE

On July 1, 2014, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) published the home health prospective payment rule (the “Proposed Regulations”) for calendar year 2015.  Importantly, the Proposed Regulations contain the biggest change to the “face-to-face” requirement to date. This article will explain proposed changes to this requirement, as well as discuss other... READ MORE