- The U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia decided yesterday that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services must comply with Consumer Checkbook’s FOIA request for 2004 Medicare claims records on physicians located in Washington, DC, Maryland, Virginia, and Illinois. Consumer Checkbook plans to use the information to create on its website a publicly available database on the number of specific medical procedures that doctors have performed in return for Medicare reimbursement. The government has not announced whether it will appeal this decision according to the Wall Street Journal.
- Modern Healthcare.com reported on a public meeting held on August 17 at which the privatization of the American Health Information Community (AHIC) was discussed.
- Modern Healthcare.com also featured a two part report (part one and part two) on a recent government funded report released on August 9 that calls for re-engineering the national health information network so it facilitates the health care fraud fighting activities of third party payors.
- A Potomac MD cardiologist this week agreed to repay the federal government $476,000 based on charges that he billed the FEHB Program and Medicare for services that he did not perform. The cardiologist did not admit to the charges, however.
