September 15, 2017 Legislation
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Oregon has finally woke up. they booted 55,000 people off of Medicaid after learning they no longer qualified fro the program or they failed to show up for an eligibility check.
The California legislature also woke up and will not consider the union based dialysis bill that would decimate the for profit dialysis centers in the state.
California has passed and sent to the Governor for his expected signature a bill to allow health insurers to negotiate lower drug prices or replace those with cheaper alternatives. The bill also requires pharmaceutical companies to notify insurers and government health plans at lest 60 days before raising prices over 16% over two years and an explanation would be required.
Very rarely the USPSTF gets it right. This one they nailed. They say women need only get one PAP smear every 3 years or one HPV test every five years but not both. Their ages for the exams are somewhat suspicious as between 30 and 65. Why stop at 65?
CMS is going to get rid of the SSN as an identifier. They will come out with new cards with indiviual identifiers by next April. Top
California is at it again. They are fining hospitals for errors that puts patients in jeopardy. This time it is 10 hospitals. Sharp Coronado was fined $47,025 after a patient hanged himself in a bathroom in the ED. The bathroom door would not open as it was locked from the inside and "the normal way to open the door with a pair of scissors or a dime" was not available.
Sharp Mary birch Hospital in Serra Mesa was fined $86,625 was found to have a sponge left in her post C-Section. It was found 11 weeks later and had created enough problems that he fallopian Tube and part of her colon needed to be removed.
Vibra Hospital in San Diego was fined $100,000 after a patient fall and death when the nurse did not do a proper fall assessment.
Valley Children's Hospital in Madera was fined $71,962 when a young male died after a traffic accident from a bleeding aneurysm. The hospital did not communicate well between physicians.
The other fined hospitals and amounts were Kaiser LA $75,000;Kindred Gardena $71,250; Loma Linda Murietta $42,750;Mission Community Panorama City $50,000 and St. Joseph Hospital Eureka $40,000.
UPMC Bedford Memorial Hospital was cited by Pennsylvania for allowing multiple people into an operating room and taking pictures of an genital injury with a foreign body. The hospital suspended one physician for seven days and another for 28 days. They are also replacing the surgical services nursing director.
Many do not know about the recent legal case where a physician sued a hospital successfully for not mentioning how long he needed to be monitored in a peer review case. The NPDB has now come out with a new requirement or a revision of the guideline regarding this. They now say that any restriction that lasts over 30 days for any reason must be reported. The restriction may be based on when a health care provider demonstrates clinical competence rather than attaching a certain timeframe to the restriction. 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.