Regulatory/Legislative News

Thousands of physicians from American safety-net hospitals signed a letter sent to Congress highlighting the importance of the 340B Drug Pricing Program.

The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions today favorably reported a bill requiring manufacturers of reusable medical devices like duodenoscopes to submit cleaning instructions and validation data to the FDA before bringing these devices to market. The bill also seeks to clarify FDA guidance on when manufacturers should seek clearance from the agency before marketing their products.

The Senate health committee today recommended the establishment of a national surveillance system for neurological diseases.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions unanimously recommended a measure today that would improve the use of electronic health records for the benefit of health care providers and patients.

The U.S. Senate health committee today recommended legislation to strengthen and increase the visibility of medical rehabilitation research at the NIH.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions adopted legislation today designed to speed up development of genetically targeted drugs for patients with rare and serious or life-threating conditions.

The U.S. Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions will consider seven bipartisan bills on biomedical innovation tomorrow, Feb. 9, at the first of three executive sessions.

The vast majority of ophthalmologists opt in as a provider for Medicare because so many of our patients are older than 65 years. Less so for Medicaid, depending on the state. In Medicare, doctors have several choices. They can be a participating provider in Medicare, a nonparticipating provider in Medicare, opt out of Medicare or, according to Jeffrey Liegner, MD, but controversial and rare, if in a small practice with fewer than 10 employees, consider becoming a non-covered entity. In my experience, most ophthalmologists are quite altruistic and dedicated to the best interest of the patients in their practice and community. Patients older than the age of 65 have 10 times the eye pathology of those younger than 65, and almost all of them are enrolled in Medicare, including the wealthy. Thus, if an ophthalmologist wants to be available to a broad array of patients in the community, participation in Medicare is mandatory.

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii — At Hawaiian Eye/Retina 2016, Donna M. McCune, CCS-P, COE, CPMA, discusses steps administrators can take with EHR with regard to the most challenging aspects of efficiency, accuracy and compliance.

WAIKOLOA, Hawaii — At Hawaiian Eye/Retina 2016, Kevin J. Corcoran, COE, CPC, FNAO, CPMA, president of the Corcoran Consulting Group, gives an update on this year's important coding changes in ophthalmology.