ACOs and the Shared Savings Program – Part II: Unanswered Questions

Posted by Jason Greis on October 12, 2010 under Articles | Comments are off for this article

In addition to the numerous misconceptions about Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) and the Shared Savings Program, there are a number of unknowns regarding implementation, including permitted legal structures, payment amounts, and performance measurement. This article identifies and discusses some of the more significant unanswered questions about ACOs and the Shared Savings Program.  Read More...

Kindred Continues Expansion through Acquisitions

Posted by Jason Greis on August 28, 2010 under Articles, Industry News | Be the First to Comment

Kindred Healthcare has moved to expand its market presence in key cluster markets in California and Texas by signing definitive agreements to purchase five LTACHs in southern California for $180 million and three Texas-based nursing and rehabilitation centers for $38 million in two separate all-cash deals for a total purchase price of $218 million.  Both transactions require regulatory approvals and are expected to close later this year. Read More...

Why Pre-admission Screening Matters to Post-Acute Care Institutions

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

The federal government pays more than 40% of all money spent on healthcare in the U.S. and it is focused like never before on managing those costs. Along with reducing already low reimbursement levels, CMS will look to two primary means for cost reduction–utilization and admissions review and reimbursements tied to outcomes. For post-acute care facilities this translates into a single imperative – “admitting the appropriate patient”. Read More...

CMS Issues Proposed Rule on Changes to Stark In-Office Ancillary Services Exception

Posted by Jason Greis on August 12, 2010 under Articles | Be the First to Comment

Section 6003 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Public Law 111-148 (H.R. 3590) (PPACA) makes a change to the “in-office ancillary services” exception to the Stark physician self-referral law that impacts physician practices providing certain radiology services in their offices. In short, the change requires physicians making a referral for magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and computed tomography (CT), or certain other radiology services in their offices, to make a disclosure to the patient that such services can be provided elsewhere and to include a list of alternative providers. 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...

Exploring the Adverse Impact of Federal Healthcare Reform on Physician-Owned Hospitals

Posted by Jason Greis on April 1, 2010 under Articles | Read the First Comment

After almost a year of heated debate, President Obama signed into law the Patient Protection and Affordable Health Care Act (P.L. 111-148) (“PPACA” or the “Act”) on March 23, 2010, as amended by the Health Care and Education Affordability Act of 2010 (H.R. 4872) (“HCEAA”) on March 30, 2010.  While many of these laws’ provisions are benign, some contain “bombshells” that will permanently alter the business and regulatory landscape for certain businesses.  One such provision is contained in Section 6001 of PPACA, which significantly curbs physician ownership and investment in hospitals by restricting application of the Federal Ethics in Patient Referrals Act’s (the “Stark Law”) statutory “whole-hospital exception.” Read More...