In The Know: Stay Informed with Health Care News
Posted by Pauline Heidemann on Mon, Jan 16, 2012 @ 06:08 AM
This week, In The Know, looks at the following news stories: Rule Issued on Electronic Payments from Insurers; 86% of Patient Harm Events Unreported by Hospital Staff; Excedrin, Bufferin, and Other Novartis Products Recalled; Cancer Death Rates Decline; Final Round of Health Plan Waivers Issued; Health Care Employment Up; List of 26 Medicaid Quality Measures Published.
Rule Issued on Electronic Payments from Insurers
The Department of Health and Human Services has issued an interim final rule for the electronic transfer of funds between insurers and health care providers. The rule is the beginning step in eliminating paper checks to instead transferring payments electronically. It is expected to save physicians and hospitals between $3 billion to $4.5 billion over the next decade by saving paper, printing, and postage costs, as well as saving staff time to manually process and deposit paper checks. It is also estimated to save 800,000 pounds of paper each year. The rule utilizes a trace number that automatically matches a remittance advice and electronic funds transfer payment from a health plan when the providers submit a claim electronically. The rule was part of the Affordable Care Act that required the government to establish a uniform procedure for electronically transferring funds under HIPAA. Health plans covered under HIPAA must comply with the electronic fund transfer rules by January 1, 2014. To read more, click on http://www.cmio.net/index.php?option=com_articles&view=article&id=31024:hhs-proposes-electronic-fund-transfers-to-reduce-admin-costs.
86% of Patient Harm Events Unreported by Hospital Staff
A new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG) reveals that 86% of patient harm events experienced by Medicare beneficiaries are not reported by hospital workers. In order to be paid by Medicare, hospitals are required to track medical errors and adverse patient events, analyze their causes, and improve care. Adverse events include medication errors, severe bedsores, hospital-acquired infections, delirium resulting from overuse of painkillers, and excessive bleeding linked to improper use of blood thinners. OIG estimates that more than 130,000 Medicare beneficiaries experience one or more adverse events in hospitals in a single month. Failure to report patient harm events was due in large part to staff misunderstanding of what constitutes patient harm. The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will work together to develop a list of reportable events for hospitals and their employees to use. To read more, click on http://oig.hhs.gov/oei/reports/oei-06-09-00091.asp.
Excedrin, Bufferin, and Other Novartis Products Recalled
A recall for Excedrin, NoDoz, Bufferin, and Gas-X products has been issued by Novartis because the products may contain stray tablets, capsules or caplets from other Novartis products, or contain broken or chipped tablets. The affected products were bottled at a Lincoln, Nebraska plant where the company has suspended operations and will make improvements before resuming distribution of the recalled products. A complete list of recalled products with the expiration dates, as well as refund information, can be found on Novartis’ website at http://www.novartis-otc.com/otc/index.html#7.
Cancer Death Rates Decline
According to a new report by the American Cancer Society, from 1990 to 2008 (the latest figures available) cancer mortality decreased by 22.9% in men and 15.3% in women. Death rates declined for all four of the major cancer sites: lung, colorectum, breast and prostrate. The decline in lung cancer mortality accounted for 40% of the total decline in men and the composite decline in lung, prostrate, and colorectal cancer for 78% of the total. Among women, declining breast cancer mortality accounted for 34% of the total decline and the composite of breast and colorectal cancer for 56%. “The decrease in lung cancer death rates among men since 1990 is due to the reduction in tobacco use over the past 50 years, while the decrease in female breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer largely reflects improvements in early detection and/or treatment,” the authors wrote. Despite the positive statistics, cancer mortality increased for the less common cancers of pancreas, liver, thyroid, kidney, melanoma of the skin, esophageal adenocarcinoma, and throat cancer associated with human papillomavirus (HPV). To read more, click on http://www.cancer.org/Cancer/news/News/annualreport-more-than-a-million-cancer-deaths-avoided-in-2-decades.
Final Round of Health Plan Waivers Issued
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) has issued a final round of waivers for employer-sponsored plans that do not meet provisions of federal rules created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The policies–mostly for mini-med plans, typically offered to low-wage, part-time or seasonal employees—cover approximately 3.3 million people. Starting in 2014, the law bars annual limits for essential benefits, however, the minimum limits are greater than the maximum benefits provided through mini-plans. All current and future waivers will be extended through 2013. To read more, click on http://cciio.cms.gov/resources/files/approved_applications_for_waiver.html.
Health Care Employment Up
Overall health care employment is up, with the health care industry adding 22,600 jobs, including 9,800 at hospitals last month, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Ambulatory health services, such as physician offices, outpatient care centers and home health services, added a total of 11,300 jobs. Overall health care employment last year rose by about 315,000 jobs. To read the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Press Release, click on http://www.bls.gov/news.release/empsit.nr0.htm.
List of 26 Medicaid Quality Measures Published
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released a set of 26 quality measures that will eventually be used to determine the quality of care that adult Medicaid patients are receiving in each state. The Affordable Care Act required HHS to publish a core set of health quality measures for Medicaid-eligible adults by January 1, 2012. After numerous meetings between the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, HHS originally developed a list of 51 quality measures, however, it received comments that it was too many, and they reduced the list to 26. To read the full report, click on http://www.ahrq.gov/about/nacqm/.