By FCA Asst. Gen. Counsel Kim Driggers and FCA Gen. Counsel Paul Lambert
Wednesday, 23 June 2021
The Acting US Attorney in Pennsylvania has settled a significant False Claims Act case against an integrative chiropractic practice found to have unlawfully billed Medicare using surgical codes for a P-Stim device, the fifth settlement in an ongoing investigation. Other jurisdictions in Texas, Georgia, and Tennessee, have also taken action to hold providers accountable. These devices are known as the ANSiStim device, another brand name for the P-Stim device, which is also branded as NeuroStim, Stivax, E-Pulse, and NSS-2 Bridge. Acting U.S. Attorney Williams warned providers, “If a marketer pushes a healthcare scheme like P-Stim that sounds too good to be true, it likely is – and you shouldn’t agree to it.”
On occasion the FCA receives a call from a member questioning if they must release certain information. For HIPAA purposes, the HIPPA Manual and the practice's policies and procedures address the permitted and required releases. Usually, requests for protected or sensitive information comes from a known source or with the proper authorization for the release of information. However, there are occasions when a requestor of information may not be who they say they are, or have the proper permission.
Most of these suspect calls have been telephone requests to verify if a specific person is a patient with the practice. These requests usually disappear when the caller is instructed to put their request "in writing" with the patient's authorization to release information attached. Requiring a written request should be pursued whether or not the named person is/was or isn't/wasn't a patient.
The FCA has received calls from members being approached to partner with medical practices. Please evaluate carefully, especially if any of these red flags are part of the "opportunity."
Enjoy this month's educational article form OnlineChiro, an FCA membership benefit provider. When managing social media for a healthcare practice, it can be hard to keep updates feeling fresh. Content might start to appear repetitive, dull or irrelevant, and that won't help you attract new patients.
Luckily, there are many simple techniques you can use to keep your social media content up to date, interesting and engaging. Small tweaks to your usual updates can make a massive difference to how well they're received, so it's worth taking the time to get everything right.
A Texas federal court1 order prohibits a nationwide enforcement of those portions of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) §1557 Rule that prohibits discrimination against patients on the basis of sex or gender identity including termination of pregnancy. The remaining portions of the rule prohibiting discrimination based upon age or language barriers remain in effect. The lawsuit underlying this Texas federal court decision only challenges the portions of the Rule prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender identity, sex or termination of pregnancy. The remaining portions of the Rule are unchallenged and, thus, remain in effect.
