Practice Management
A bipartisan group of lawmakers from the U.S. House of Representatives sent a letter to the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), urging the agency to consider new payment policies for urgent care centers in future Physician Fee Schedules. The gist is that CMS previously asked for information on how urgent care centers address capacity issues in emergency departments, then followed up by asking for comments on whether separate coding and payment is needed …
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Missouri lawmakers are considering a bill that would allow nurse practitioners (NPs) to practice independently, according to NPR. Right now, Missouri NPs are required to have a “collaborating” physician who provides oversight, which comes with a financial cost for operators while also driving many NPs to move to neighboring states where they can practice independently, according to the report. Compared to other states, Missouri has one of the strictest laws for NP scope of practice. …
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In Tennessee, lawmakers are advancing the FAIR Rx Act (SB 2040/HB 1959), a legislative effort aimed at dismantling pharmacy monopolies by prohibiting pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or controlling retail pharmacies. The bill directly targets vertically integrated healthcare giants like CVS Health, which owns the Caremark PBM, the CVS retail pharmacy chain, and the health insurer Aetna. In response, CVS has forecasted that the bill’s passage would affect access, forcing the closure of all …
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The American Hospital Association (AHA) and healthcare solution providers are chiming in on how they want federal regulators to structure their oversight of artificial intelligence and its integration into clinical care. For example, AHA suggested that regulations should rely on existing rules to smooth the path to innovation while also preempting state laws. It also wants to see AI companies required to meet compliance standards for privacy and security as HIPAA-covered entities. Additionally, AHA emphasizes …
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Lawmakers in Colorado, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Maine, Michigan, Ohio, and Washington are looking to add protections for patients with unpaid medical debt by prohibiting wage garnishment for bill collection, according to MedPage Today. Proponents are concerned that some garnishment might occur for incorrect billing or that siphoning away a worker’s wages could leave low-income families without the money they need for heat, food, or housing. However, providers have concerns about accumulating bad debt that could …
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The Oregon House of Representatives unanimously voted in favor of a bill that would set minimum care standards for Oregon’s urgent care clinics. Proponents describe the proposed legislation as a starting point to help patients choose an urgent care clinic appropriate for their situation because lawmakers believe there is little consistency among urgent cares in terms of the services they provide, according to local news outlet Lookout. The move is set against a backdrop of …
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Newly proposed legislation in Arizona aims to regulate radiation safety beyond the current federal and state standards, according to AZ Mirror. Proponents say the package represents a first-in-the-nation push focused on “radiation protection systems” for interventional x-ray. For example, it requires hospitals performing real-time x-ray procedures to install enhanced protection systems in at least 50% of their procedure rooms by July 2027, and the system must include shielding that offers protection equivalent to or better …
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Proposed legislation in Ohio might improve x-ray staffing in urgent care, and it could also have a significant effect on urgent cares’ bottom lines. The state has been a policy outlier because Ohio requires a physician to be physically on-site to provide direct supervision for general x-ray machine operators—which doesn’t align with the reality of today’s urgent care staffing model where centers are predominantly led by nurse practitioners (NPs) and physician assistants (PAs). The bill …
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In California, a judge has ruled that nurses, nurse practitioners, and other clinical professionals with doctorate degrees cannot refer to themselves as “doctors.” Only physicians and surgeons can use the word “doctor” or the title “Dr.” before their names. The American Medical Association and other professional organizations have long held that only those with MD or DO credentials should be labeled as “doctors” to avoid confusion or misperception by patients. Who are you? This highly …
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A federal judge has overturned a previous Biden administration rule that would have removed about $49 billion in medical debt from consumers’ credit reports. The rule until now had been caught up in court battles. Even so, last year, the 3 major credit bureaus voluntarily said they would exclude medical debts under $500 from their reporting. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau (CFPB) estimated that if implemented, the rule could have erased medical debt from the …
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