1. CMS releases overall hospital star ratings
After a three-month delay and negative chatter from many stakeholder groups, CMS released its Overall Hospital Quality Star Rating program in full Wednesday on its Hospital Compare website.
2. 10 things to know about CMS’ new mandatory cardiac bundle
CMS proposed Monday a new mandatory bundled payment program for heart attacks and bypass surgeries that includes changes to the existing Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model as part of its larger goal to shift Medicare from quantity to quality incentives.
3. Physician will pay $8M for giving healthy patients chemo
Farid Fata, MD, a Detroit-area hematologist-oncologist, will pay $8 million to resolve malpractice lawsuits alleging he purposely misdiagnosed patients with cancer and administered unnecessary chemotherapy to healthy patients.
4. DOJ charges 3 people for $1B Medicare fraud scheme
The Department of Justice charged a hospital administrator, physician’s assistant and owner of more than 30 Miami-based nursing and assisted living facilities in connection with a $1 billion Medicare fraud and money laundering scheme in an indictment unsealed Friday.
5. $15M in HIPAA settlements paid in first seven months of 2016
HHS’ Office for Civil Rights recorded nearly $15 million in settlement payments in the first seven months of 2016 regarding a range of compliance failures, according to a report by the National Law Review.
6. HHS forms international partnership to develop new antibiotics
HHS announced the formation of a public-private partnership with the Wellcome Trust of London, the AMR Centre of Alderley Park in the U.K., and Boston University School of Law that will focus on discovering and developing new antimicrobial products and combating antibiotic resistance.
7. 43 states earn ‘F’ grade for healthcare price transparency
The Catalyst for Payment Reform and the Health Care Incentives Improvement Institute released their report card on price transparency laws, and the report shows little progress from the year prior.
8. Hospitals are hit with 88% of all ransomware attacks
Hospitals and health systems have more to lose than organizations in other sectors when it comes to hacks. Patient data sells for more money than any other kind of information on the black market. Adding insult to injury, a new report suggests that the healthcare industry is hit significantly harder by ransomware than in any other — 88 percent of attacks hit hospitals.
9. 5 things to know about the newly signed opioid treatment law
President Barack Obama signed the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act bill into law Friday, according to a Reuters report.
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