Complimentary McGuireWoods Webinar: The Impact of Healthcare Reform on Hospital Consolidation

Posted by Jason Greis on August 24, 2010 under Events | Be the First to Comment

Thursday, September 16, 2010
Noon – 1 p.m. (ET) | 11 a.m. – Noon (CT) | 9 a.m. – 10 a.m. (PT)
Complimentary Webinar
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Strategies for Hospital Leadership – Identifying Strengths, Allocating Hospital Resources and Focusing on Profitable Niche Leadership

Posted by Jason Greis on August 16, 2010 under Whitepapers | Be the First to Comment

This is a great time for hospital leadership and boards to reevaluate their strategies.   The attached whitepaper written by two of my colleagues, Scott Becker and Bart Walker, contains eight core thoughts and concepts on strategic planning for hospitals. Read More...

2011 Medicare Payment Update for Post-Acute Care Providers

Posted by Jason Greis on August 3, 2010 under Articles | Read the First Comment

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has recently released various notices and final rules updating 2011 Medicare payment rates for post-acute care providers, including long-term acute care hospitals (“LTACHs”), inpatient rehabilitation facilities (“IRFs”), skilled nursing facilities (“SNFs”), home health agencies (“HHAs”) and hospices.  These Medicare rate updates generally implement negative payment adjustments mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Pub. L. No. 111-148), as amended by the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 (Pub. L. No. 111-152) (together, “PPACA”).  Yet in spite of these adjustments, SNFs, hospices, IRFs and LTACH have fared relatively well with collective Medicare payment increases totaling $919 million, with HHAs offsetting these reimbursement gains by suffering a proposed $900 million Medicare reimbursement cut for calendar year 2011. Read More...

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act – Provisions Impacting Institutional Providers

Posted by Jason Greis on April 30, 2010 under Articles | Be the First to Comment

The below CMS e-mail alert was distributed via grouplist on Thursday, April 22, 2010 and impacts LTACHs, among other institutional providers. Read More...

Eleven Things to Know about the False Claims Act

Posted by Jason Greis on March 29, 2010 under Whitepapers | Be the First to Comment

In today’s era of increased fraud and abuse enforcement, it’s imperative that all individuals working in any facet of the healthcare industry be familiar with the basics of the False Claims Act and its recent evolution into a powerful regulatory tool for the government and private citizens.  The McGuireWoods white paper “Eleven Things to Know About the False Claims Act” is a useful primer to help individuals identify potential violations of the False Claims Act.  It will also help individuals better understand how the Act is enforced against and applied within the healthcare industry, including individual providers, medical device manufacturers and pharmaceutical companies. Read More...

Illinois Not-for-Profit Property Tax Exemptions, Charity Care and the Provena Decision

Posted by Jason Greis on March 23, 2010 under Articles | Be the First to Comment

Late last week the Illinois Supreme Court (the Court) issued its long-anticipated decision in the case of Provena Covenant Medical Center v. Illinois Department of Revenue (Provena). The Court’s opinion, delivered by Justice Karmeier, upheld the Illinois Department of Revenue (Revenue) Director Brian Hamer’s ruling that Provena Covenant Medical Center, located in Urbana, Ill. (PCMC), did not provide enough charity care services to justify the continuation of its charitable purpose property tax exemption. The Court’s opinion noted that PCMC’s parent company, Provena Hospitals, was the true property owner of PCMC, and that Provena Hospitals itself was not a charitable institution nor did it primarily serve charitable purposes. Furthermore, the Court held that PCMC provided only minimal levels of charity care thus the property was not being primarily used for charitable purposes. The Court’s decision will be problematic for not-for-profit hospitals, including LTACHs, because it leaves a key question unanswered—just how much charity must a hospital provide to justify an exemption? The decision is expected to encourage local taxing bodies to pursue efforts to remove tax exemptions of not-for-profit hospitals and other providers. Read More...