Healthicity Blog

Everyone is talking (and panicking) about Hierarchical Condition Categories (HCCs) lately and for good reason: HCCs are progressively being applied to numerous healthcare reform initiatives and it’s pretty confusing.

1. Los Angeles Hospital Agrees to Pay $42 Million to Settle Alleged False Claims Act Violations Arising from Improper Payments to Physicians -

$8.18 Billion is a lot of money. It’s not the amount recovered by the government from healthcare fraud and abuse. It’s not the amount of money provided in charity care by hospitals.

1. Miami-Area Man Charged For Role in $63 Million Health Care Fraud Scheme - A Miami-area man was charged in an indictment unsealed today for his alleged participation in a $63 million health care fraud scheme involving a now-defunct community mental health center located in Miami. Read the full...

In 2009, the HITECH Act was passed as a part of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. It provided the authority for the government to establish the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (HER) incentive programs to promote the adoption of EHRs.

We all “report up” to somebody at some point and that goes for the OIG, too, in their regular reports to Congress. Recently, the OIG submitted its Semiannual Report to Congress for the period of Oct. 1, 2016 to March 31, 2017.

1. Missouri Hospitals to pay U.S. $34m to settle alleged false claims: Two Southwest Missouri health care providers have agreed to pay the United States $34,000,000 to settle allegations that they violated the False Claims Act by engaging in improper financial relationships with referring...

Healthcare fraud and abuse are hot topics right now, it’s more important than ever to get on top of new codes and keep your practice audit-ready. Knowledge is power. This handy list will help you update CPT codes and stay current. Educate providers and staff using the following auditing resources.