MedPAC Recommends Congress Lower Payments For Post-Acute Care
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission's recommendation applies to all post-acute care settings except long-term care hospitals and also asks Congress to look at adopting smaller site-neutral policies. News outlets cover AI in health care, a "smart" hospital's 5G network, and more.
Modern Healthcare:
MedPAC Asks Congress To Adopt Site-Neutral Post-Acute Payments
The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission will recommend Congress lower the payments to all post-acute care settings except long-term care hospitals and look to adopt smaller, site-neutral policies that should be phased out if and when a unified payment system is implemented. Industry associations, despite generally agreeing with a post-acute care prospective payment system, cautioned against taking such action before factoring in the impact of the current updates and the pandemic. (Turner, 4/18)
On the use of AI in health care —
Fox News:
AI Health Care Platform Predicts Diabetes With High Accuracy But 'Won't Replace Patient Care'
With 37.3 million people in the U.S. living with diabetes — 8.5 million of whom are undiagnosed, per the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — the disease is one of the deadliest and most expensive in the country. Cedar Gate Technologies, a medical tech development company in Greenwich, Connecticut, announced on Tuesday a new AI-based solution that aims to reduce the burden of diabetes for both patients and providers. (Rudy, 4/19)
Bloomberg:
AI Therapy Becomes New Use Case For ChatGPT
Milo Van Slyck missed an appointment with his therapist in early April, so he decided to try something new: telling ChatGPT about his problems. (Metz, 4/18)
Modern Healthcare:
HIMSS 2023: Epic, Microsoft Bring OpenAI's GPT-4 To EHRs
Epic Systems is working with Microsoft to integrate generative AI technology into its electronic health record software for the first time, the companies said Monday. The announcement was made in conjunction with the first day of the HIMSS conference, which is being held in Chicago this week. (Turner, 4/17)
In other health care industry news —
Modern Healthcare:
Cleveland Clinic, Verizon To deploy 5G Network At New ‘Smart Hospital’
Verizon Business is deploying a private 5G network at Cleveland Clinic's new 'smart' hospital, the companies said Tuesday at the Healthcare Information Management Systems Society (HIMSS) conference in Chicago. (Devereaux, 4/18)
Modern Healthcare:
John Hopkins Health, Sibley Memorial Settle Stark Act Violation
Johns Hopkins Health System and Sibley Memorial Hospital have settled improper payment allegations for $5 million. Sibley Memorial, in Washington, D.C., allegedly violated the Stark Law from 2008 to 2011 by billing Medicare for services referred by 10 cardiologists with whom the hospital had a financial relationship, the Justice Department said Monday. (Berryman, 4/18)
Modern Healthcare:
Meharry Medical College Fined For Violating False Claims Act
Meharry Medical College has agreed to pay more than $100,000 to settle federal allegations that the medical school submitted fraudulent claims to Medicare for services provided by unsupervised, non-physician residents. (Berryman, 4/18)
