Health Law Update

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	All rights reserved, Phelps Dunbar LLP Health Law Update is published as a service to clients and friends of Phelps Dunbar LLP, and should not be construed as legal or professional advice or as opinion on specific fact.
CMS Proposes Changes to Inpatient Hospital Payment Rates and Stark Regulations; OIG Issues Guidance Documents April 16, 2008
2009 Proposed IPPS Rule On Monday, April 14, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) posted on its Web site the proposed Inpatient Prospective Payment Systems and Fiscal Year 2009 Rates (the 2009 Proposed IPPS Rule). In this rule, CMS proposes changes to inpatient hospital payment rates as well as Stark rule changes. CMS has stated that it will use the IPPS rule as a vehicle for announcing future Stark changes. In addition to its proposed updates to DRG and wage index information, the 2009 Proposed IPPS Rule includes proposals and requests for comments relating to the following issues: Disclosure of physician ownership in hospitals; Changes to the postacute care transfer policy; Reporting of hospital quality data for annual hospital payment update; Applicability of EMTALA requirements to hospital inpatients; Changes to the EMTALA physician on-call requirements; Changes to the Physician Self-Referral (Stark) Law, including requests for comments relating to: Modifications to the "stand in the shoes" provisions of Stark II, Phase III; A proposal for a gainsharing arrangement exception; Modifications to the definitions of "physician" and "physician organization;" and Issues relating to physician-owned implant and other medical device companies An unofficial version of the 2009 Proposed IPPS Rule may be found at http://www.cms.hhs.gov/AcuteInpatientPPS/downloads/CMS-1390-P.pdf. The official version is scheduled for publication in the Federal Register on April 30, 2008. Comments are due by no later than June 13, 2008. Phelps Dunbar will be sending out a more detailed description of the Stark proposed revisions shortly. If you would like to receive a copy of the Stark section of the 2009 Proposed IPPS Rule in pdf form, please e-mail Kim Cappleman at capplemk@phelps.com. OIG Open Letter to Health Care Providers On Tuesday, April 15, the Office of Inspector General (OIG) issued an Open Letter to Health Care Providers concerning changes to the OIG's Provider Self-Disclosure Protocol (SDP). The letter states that the OIG believes that these "refinements and clarifications to OIG's policies" will increase the efficiency of the SDP and benefit providers who choose to self-disclose. The open letter may be found at http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/openletters/OpenLetter4-15-08.pdf. Draft OIG Supplemental Compliance Program Guidance for Nursing Facilities Also on April 15, the OIG posted its Draft OIG Supplemental Compliance Program Guidance for Nursing Facilities. This document supplements the existing compliance guidance issued in 2000. The draft guidance focuses on the following issues as they relate to nursing facilities: Fraud and abuse laws, including False Claims Act for failure to provide quality care; Submission of accurate claims; Compliance with the Anti-Kickback statute; and Other compliance issues. The draft guidance may be found at: http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/complianceguidance/NurseCPGIIFR.pdf If you have questions, please contact one of the Phelps Dunbar health care attorneys listed below.


Inquiries concerning topics addressed in the Health Law Update may be directed to any of our Health Law attorneys. Your comments, questions, and suggestions are encouraged.
TUPELO Bush III, F. M. Milam, James T. Moore, Jeffrey S. Newman, Dinetia M. Pirkle, Gregory D. Atkinson, E. Payne Cappleman, Kimberly L.* Garner, Andrew V. Pierce, Rachel M. NEW ORLEANS Gordon, Cecile L. Manard, Jr., John P. BATON ROUGE Koonce, Jeffrey W. Trainor, Virginia Y. Barham, Rebecca Wilder-Doomes, Erin J. *Contributing Author	(662) 690-8136 (662) 690-8141 (662) 690-8137 (662) 690-8156 (662) 690-8135 (662) 690-8166 (662) 690-8113 (662) 690-8177 (662) 690-8176 (504) 584-9317 (504) 584-9253 (225) 376-0217 (225) 376-0269 (225) 376-0246 (225) 376-0245	bushm@phelps.com milamj@phelps.com moorej@phelps.com newmand@phelps.com pirkleg@phelps.com atkinsop@phelps.com capplemk@phelps.com andrew.garner@phelps.com piercer@phelps.com gordonc@phelps.com manardj@phelps.com kooncej@phelps.com trainorg@phelps.com rebecca.barham@phelps.com wildere@phelps.com
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