Substantial increases in the enforcement of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) have been made, largely as a result of the enactment of the Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health Act (the HITECH Act). These include increased penalties for violations; requirements by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) […]
Action steps for dealing with potential patient abuse The recent Penn State child abuse scandal raises two significant questions relevant to EMS leaders: How could such a horrific thing happen, and why was it not properly reported? Abuse against another person is not always clearly discernible. The actions of an abuser, especially against children or […]
When adverse events & medical errors occur Editor’s note: The following is part three in a three-part series regarding medical errors. Humans, by nature, are adverse to risk; that is, most people are cautious in their approach to situations that could place themselves, or someone else, at risk of harm or injury. Unfortunately, the nature […]
The federal anti-kickback statute has frequently been discussed in the pages of EMS Insider. This law prohibits giving or receiving anything of value to induce the referrals of Medicare patients or other federal healthcare program beneficiaries. The AKS has been applied to a wide array of ambulance service arrangements, as seen in numerous advisory opinions […]
(Editor’s Note: This is part two of a three-part series.) In the October 2011 issue of EMS Insider, we discussed the requirements for reporting Adverse Events to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, reporting untoward or unexpected events which occur in the course of patient interaction or care to the FDA is only one […]
The Office of Inspector General (OIG) of the Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) has issued an advisory opinion addressing the important issue of what constitutes a reasonable allocation of payment when a BLS transport provider jointly responds with an ALS non-transport agency and submits a “bundled bill” to Medicare.
The New Jersey Superior Court ruled on a tragic case earlier this year that again highlights the issue of statutory immunity for EMS transport providers, and shows that immunity given to EMS will shield them from certain types of litigation. The parents of shooting victim Odis Murray filed suit for negligence against the Plainfield Rescue […]
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently issued a directive to its MACs (Medicare administrative contractors, which are the entities that process Medicare claims.) The directive requires the MACs to begin processing claims with non-covered service codes submitted by ambulance services.1 This has raised questions—and some needless confusion—among ambulance services. This month’s column […]
What & when to report Your service is dispatched to a call for anaphylaxis, and the patient reports the reaction was due to a newly prescribed medication. EMS personnel administer the wrong medication to a patient because the prefilled syringes look similar. A pin on a stretcher gives way, causing the stretcher to collapse with […]
Federal opinion favorable to repetitive transport providers On July 11, 2011, a federal trial court in Tennessee issued a significant decision favorable to ambulance providers who perform scheduled repetitive transports for dialysis and other types of chronically ill patients. The decision, in the case of MooreCare Ambulance Service, LLC vs. Department of Health and Human […]
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