Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Bill To Protect Health Care Workers From Pandemic Lawsuits Reintroduced
Modern Healthcare: House Introduces COVID Liability Bill For Healthcare Providers
A bipartisan group of members of the U.S. House of Representatives has re-introduced a piece of legislation that aims to protect healthcare workers from lawsuits related to the pandemic. Under the Coronavirus Provider Protection Act, healthcare professionals would not be liable for harm caused by care or withholding services due to the pandemic. This includes providers practicing outside of their normal area or with a lack of resources "attributable to the pandemic." "If communities shut down physicians offices or reschedule elective surgeries, that causes adverse health outcomes in patients beyond a physician's control," said Dr. Susan Bailey, president of the American Medical Association. (Gellman, 5/10)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare: Tennessee Moves To Reform Healthcare Certificate-Of-Need Law
Tennessee's Legislature on Friday passed a sweeping bill that exempts more health providers from certificate-of-need requirements. Under the bill, mental health hospitals, and hospital-run outpatient treatment centers for opioid addiction would no longer need to apply for CONs to open. Existing hospitals could also increase their number of beds, but not add new types of bed capacity for services not already performed. Hospitals also would be prohibited from adding additional beds at satellite locations. (Gillespie, 5/10)
360Dx: Labs Preparing For Increase In POC, Homest Testing Post-Pandemic
COVID-19 has driven an uptick in healthcare delivery approaches like telemedicine and point-of-care, home, and direct-to-consumer testing, a shift that some observers believe could continue to accelerate even after the pandemic is over. It is a trend that has a potential downside for traditional labs as increased POC and DTC testing could cut into their business. It is also, though, a pattern that fits with the industry's move even pre-pandemic toward more patient-centered models of testing and sample collection and one that some in the business suggest could ultimately expand the overall demand for testing. (Bonislawski, 5/10)
Modern Healthcare: University Of Miami Settles Medicare Fraud Claims For $22 Million
The University of Miami will pay $22 million to settle allegations that it billed Medicare for unnecessary lab tests, the Justice Department announced Monday. The government backed whistleblowers' claims that UM converted multiple physician offices to hospital-owned outpatient departments and billed at the higher rate without giving beneficiaries the required notice. The university's electronic health record trigged a preset protocol of tests for every new kidney transplant patient, which was driven by financial motive rather than patient care, investigators alleged. UM allegedly coerced Jackson Memorial Hospital to purchase pre-transplant laboratory tests at inflated rates in exchange for referrals, which led to a separate $1.1 million settlement with Jackson Memorial. (Kacik, 5/10)
