Monitor Mondays

Your medical staff office just notified you that a physician has been performing procedures without privileges for the past five years.

No, it doesn’t happen all the time. But what should you do?

Physician and attorney Dr. John K. Hall will walk you through the considerations and help you understand how much revenue might be in jeopardy during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Folana Houston, assistant general counsel for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

Hospital utilization and billing are notoriously challenging concepts for providers and case management staff because they frequently boil down to two, often conflicting points of view: what can be done per the rules, regulations, and contracts, and what should be done to provide the most effective care for a patient?  In a world where process standardization is imperative to maintain health system viability, but also where the practice of medicine remains an art, teams need a broad understanding of medical necessity and billing rules.

Join us during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays when Dr. Juliet B. Ugarte Hopkins reports on where you can give and take and how to parse out the varying shades of grey.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Matthew Albright, chief legislative affairs analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.

The beleaguered False Claims Act, which traces its origins to the Civil War, came before the Supreme Court this past Tuesday, when the Court heard oral arguments in a consequential and closely watched case involving one of the Government’s most effective tools for fighting healthcare fraud. 

Specifically, the issue is whether and when a defendant’s contemporaneous subjective understanding or beliefs about the lawfulness of its conduct are relevant to whether it knowingly violated the Act. This case involves accusations that supermarket pharmacies Safeway and SuperValu overcharged Medicare and Medicaid for generic drugs by misrepresenting the usual and customary prices they charged for the drugs.

During the next live edition of Monitor Mondays, famed whistleblower attorney Mary Inman, partner at the law offices of Constantine Cannon, will provide background and context on the case that the Court is expected to issue a ruling for in June, at the end of its term. 

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Adam Brenman, legislative analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

Recent highly publicized advances in artificial intelligence forecast the elimination of at least 30 percent of the healthcare workforce (probably more), including all generalist physicians. The astonishing scalability of information technology suggests that one to three data centers will be able to deliver medical advisory services to the entire population of the United States, according to Edward M. Roche, who will be reporting our lead story during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays.

Roche is expected to report that as a country, America will see the debilitating cost of much healthcare being delivered today reduced to pennies and for all practical purposes delivered free of charge. But, cautions, Roche, such a game-changer will not be put in place without much resistance. So, who will be the winners and the losers in this new era of AI-driven healthcare? Register now to listen Monday.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Dr. James Kennedy, President of CDIMD, will be making his Monday Rounds, substituting for Dr. Ronald Hirsch.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Folana Houston, assistant general counsel for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

This year, as in past years, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) Inpatient-Only List continues to confuse and bewilder so many healthcare professionals. And it’s little wonder: in 2021, CMS removed 500 surgical procedures from the List, only to reinstate most but not all of the procedures for 2022. Today, most Medicare and Medicaid plans follow the CMS Inpatient-Only List. But not all.

Join us this coming Monday when Mary Beth Pace, our special guest on the next edition of Monitor Mondays, will serve as our guide, helping you avoid auditing pitfalls while traversing this tricky compliance territory of inpatient versus outpatient status.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Cate Brantley, legislative analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

It’s back: the Three-Midnight Rule.

Created with the nation’s 1965 enactment of Medicare, the Rule provided that patients needed to have at least three consecutive midnights of inpatient care in an acute hospital setting before being admitted to skilled nursing facility (SNF). And then came the COVID-19 pandemic and the federal Public Health Emergency (PHE), and the rule was waived.

Now, as the PHE is about to expire on May 11, the Rule is making a comeback. And that could pose problems for thousands of case and utilization managers across the country who are either out of practice with managing this Medicare requirement or have never in their careers had to address it.

Join us during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays, when Juliet B. Ugarte Hopkins, MD, president of the American College of Physician Advisors, will be reporting on this new regulatory challenge and how to avoid the pitfalls associated with the inevitable audits that are likely to ensue.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Adam Brenman, legislative analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

It’s the biggest healthcare story of the decade: up to 15 million individuals will soon be disenrolled from Medicaid, when the COVID-19 public health emergency (PHE) shuts down. Those who enrolled in Medicaid during the pandemic must re-enroll to keep their Medicaid coverage. Suddenly, your hospital could be overrun with uninsured patients.

What’s being done about this issue, and what can you do?

Join us during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays, when Dennis Jones will be reporting on the unwinding of the Medicaid Continuous Enrollment Provision of the Public Health Emergency (PHE). 

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Matthew Albright, chief legislative affairs analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

Imagine for a moment that the federal government, through one of its contractors, sends you money for services you don’t believe are covered benefits for a particular patient at your facility.

But wait. Don’t react just yet.

The best course of action might not be what you think, and it’s definitely not simple or straightforward, as you’ll learn during the next live edition of the long-running Monitor Mondays Internet radio broadcast. That’s when physician and attorney Dr. John K. Hall will explore the mysteries of Advance Beneficiary Notices (ABNs) and reverse false claims.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullen, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Adam Brenman, federal legislative analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

Famed whistleblower attorney Mary Inman will return to the Monitor Mondays weekly Internet radio broadcast this coming Monday to report on a unique case in which a jury found that Precision Lens and its owner, Paul Ehlen, illegally paid kickbacks to ophthalmic surgeons to induce their use of the company’s products in cataract surgeries reimbursed by Medicare.

The company was found to have submitted more than 64,000 false claims to Medicare, costing the program about $43 million in single damages. Precision Lens was found to have violated both the Anti-kickback Statute and the False Claims Act, which allows private individuals like the whistleblower in this case to sue in the name of the United States, alleging that the federal government has been defrauded.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Cate Brantley, legislative affairs analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.

We at Monitor Mondays will begin a monthlong observance of National Doctors’ Day this coming Monday, March 6.

Although the 90-year-old recognition of American physicians is March 30, during the next live edition of our weekly Internet radio broadcast we will recognize the contributions of Scott Ceule, MD, a physician advisor who, along with his team, helped create a transfer center at the University of Kansas Health System.

Dr. Ceule will report on the process of creating a transfer center, while explaining the role of physician advisors in the transfer process; they are akin to gatekeepers in that they allow an organization to evaluate medical necessity, financials, and utilization review prior to accepting patients to the acute-care setting.

Broadcast segments will also include these instantly recognizable features:

• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.
  
  
• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Practus, will report the latest news about auditors.
  
  
• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Bryon, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.
  
  
• Legislative Update: Matthew Albright, chief legislative affairs analyst for Zelis, will report on current healthcare legislation.
  
  
• The Wrapper: John Zelem, founder and CEO of Streamline Consulting Solutions, will join the broadcast for a wrap-up on the morning’s top stories.