Regulatory/Legislative News

Along with many of my colleagues, our practice moved to electronic medical records in 2011. This allowed us to take advantage of the stimulus package offered by the government to those of us willing to be early adaptors.

Medicare will make sweeping changes in how it pays for clinical laboratory tests starting in 2017. The Protecting Access to Medicare Act, enacted April 1, will make the most significant reform of Medicare’s Clinical Laboratory Fee Schedule (CLFS) since its introduction in 1984, by setting CLFS payment amounts based on rates paid for laboratory tests in the private sector.

Individual eligible professionals (EPs) who reported at least one Physician Quality Reporting System (PQRS) quality measure in 2013 via claims-based reports can now view the entire 2013 calendar year of data using the 2013 PQRS Interim Feedback Dashboard. Summary data is available to Taxpayer Identification Number (TIN), and individual detail is provided by National Provider Identifier (NPI). This data will allow EPs to monitor the status of their claims-based measures and measure group reporting.

In what is believed to be the first settlement of its kind, an ophthalmologist recently agreed to resolve a False Claims Act complaint that alleged he performed medically unnecessary laser services to Medicare patients and caused the hospital where the procedures were performed to file false claims, and, therefore, he also should be liable for those claims.

The Score Analyzer, a software algorithm used for the objective screening of the risk of corneal ectasia, has received CE mark in the European Union, Bausch + Lomb announced in a press release. The Score Analyzer provides surgeons an objective evaluation tool for early-stage keratoconus. After an examination with the Orbscan topographer (Bausch + Lomb), the Score software automatically associates the Placido-based keratometric map, anterior and posterior corneal elevation, and corneal thickness profile into one value, according to the release.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Haslam signed into law on Tuesday legislation permitting optometrists in the state to inject local anesthesia for certain procedures.

Last weekend, I attended Vision Expo East in New York.  I am always amazed by the size of the exhibit hall and can often get a “pulse” of the profession by wandering around and seeing which exhibits are “hot” and which are “cold.”

On April 1, President Barack Obama signed into law the Protecting Access to Medicare Act of 2014.

The US Senate voted Monday to approve a one-year temporary legislative patch to avoid looming 24% cuts to physician Medicare payments. The measure also delays the ICD-10 billing codes compliance deadline until 2015

NEW YORK – “The health care system in the U.S. is one of the most interesting stories I have ever seen,” Charles Posternack, MD, FACP, FRCPC, said.