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The US Justice Department has started an investigation into the practices of UnitedHealth and their ownership of Optum. They are investigation into the Optum acquisitions and how the physician and insurance arm affect competition.
In any new funding package Congress will leave out due to lobbying (bribery) by the AHA equalization of the payments between physician offices and hospital offices. It remains to be seen whether there will be any rollback of physician payments under the RVS system. Top
Hospitals
The NPDB has changed its definition of "investigation" so that it now may include a Focused Professional Practice Evaluation (FPPE). The actual change was made in 2018 but it only now coming into view. It now includes not only FPPE for cause but also FPPE for new applicants. This goes against the idea that FPPE is to be a collegial process improvement and resigning while under a FPPE is the same as resigning under an investigation and reportable to the NPDB. Top
DISCLAIMER: Although this article is updated periodically, it reflects the author's point of view at the
time of publication. Nothing in this article constitutes legal advice. Readers
should consult with their own legal counsel before acting on any of the
information presented.