McALLEN — A federal grand jury has indicted the former operations director of A-Care EMS Inc. on charges that he sent fraudulent claims to the Centers for Medicare and medicaid services to pull in more money.
A Montgomery County hospital where a 29-year-old patient suffered extreme malnutrition before his death could face steep state fines within weeks and even the loss of federal Medicare funding this fall because of serious failings in care.
Consumers may soon have more information to help them select a doctor when they need an operation or other serious medical procedure.
In light of the “substantial” cost of medical errors, Medicare’s new rule to refuse to pay the costs of preventable hospital errors will provide an incentive that should “help reduce the taxpayers’ burden,” a Washington Times editorial states. It continues, “It’s not to say that hospitals are careless now, but the new rules will make them more diligent. [click link for full article]
Long Island Newsday on Wednesday examined a new rule from CMS that will deny reimbursements to hospitals for preventable errors that occur while patients are in their care, a move that advocates believe will encourage better quality and help reduce avoidable injury and infection rates. Hospital-acquired infections are the most common cause of preventable patient harm, with CDC estimating that 1. …
For decades, Medicare has been paying hospitals the cost of fixing medical errors that resulted from the hospitals’ own negligence. The Bush administration has announced that, as of Oct.
Fewer than 10% of Medicare beneficiaries receive recommended health screening and immunizations, even as Medicare increasingly is covering preventive services, according to CMS, the Wall Street Journal reports. [click link for full article]
An order to release Medicare files might help patients choose physicians. Medical experts say the records don’t tell the whole story. Whether it’s a hernia repair or heart bypass, doctors with a lot of experience performing a given operation tend to have better results. The problem for patients in choosing a physician has been finding out which ones have the know-how.
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