Legal & Regulatory Issues

Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has asked Duke University Health System, University of North Carolina Hospitals and Carolinas Medical Center — three of the largest hospitals in North Carolina — to share information about their use of a discount drug program…

Buffalo, N.Y.-based Kaleida Health has agreed to pay $1.6 million after a state attorney general investigation revealed the system overbilled Medicaid for dental clinic services for which reimbursement was not authorized.

Two Republican lawmakers have written a letter to HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, responding to reports that exchange grants are being used for pop culture "propaganda" and urging answers on how HHS is tracking and using the grants.

The 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has upheld a lower court's injunction against annual caps on medically necessary dental care in the state's Medicaid program, according to a San Francisco Chronicle report.

At the 19th Annual Ambulatory Surgery Centers Conference in Chicago, Beverly Robins, RN, BSN, MBA director of accreditation at Healthcare Facilities Accreditation Program, will be giving a presentation titled "Key Issues in HFAP Accreditation."

The former CEO of Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City has been arrested and charged in a $1.4 million kickback scheme that spanned for a decade.

In response to a letter from HHS and the Department of Justice about the misuse of electronic health records, the Association of Academic Health Centers and American Hospital Association separately defended hospitals and requested further guidance from CMS.

CMS wants to reduce the level of supervision required for 15 outpatient services, including vaccine administrations and bladder catheter insertion, according to an AHA News Now report.

This past August, the U.S. Department of Justice sent guidelines to hospitals that dealt with the medical necessity of implantable cardioverter defibrillators, or ICDs.

Duluth, Minn.-based Essentia Health said is has refunded $865,000 in Medicare overpayments after an audit found more than $1.2 million is overbillings, according to The Sacramento Bee.