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ePrescribing: What Health Lawyers Need to Know Teleconference Date: Wednesday, September 3, 2008 Seminar Materials
In the News The AP (7/22, Freking) reports that, as of "Jan. 1, the federal government will boost Medicare's payments to doctors that send prescriptions electronically to a pharmacy rather than writing them out on paper and handing them to the patient." According to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt, "The widespread adoption of electronic prescribing is expected to save taxpayers as much as $156 million over the next five years, and save lives." At present, "about 10 percent of family physicians use computers to transmit prescriptions to pharmacies. The software can ensure that all necessary information is filled out and legible, and also allows doctors to keep better tabs on their patients." Moreover, physicians "can check for the possibility of an allergic reaction, or whether a prescription may conflict with another medicine." Data from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) indicate that "illegible physician handwriting on prescriptions results in drug errors, and causes adverse reactions for 1.5 million Americans every year," AHN (7/21, Sharma) added. Handwritten prescriptions also place an "additional burden on pharmacists who have to make 150 million phone calls annually to doctors to decipher their prescription[s]." Under the new plan, physicians "who use e-prescription methods will get a two percent incentive payment in 2009 and 2010, a one percent incentive payment in 2011 and 2012, and a 0.5 percent incentive payment in 2013," the Memphis Business Journal (7/21) notes. But, those "who are not electronic prescribers will receive a reduction in payment in 2012." Modern Healthcare (7/21, Lubell) added that the "terms of the incentives program will be outlined in Medicare's final rule on the 2009 physician fee schedule this fall." And, the "CMS also plans to hold a conference this fall to address the issues associated with physicians adopting e-prescribing tools," such as the set-up costs, which acting CMS Administrator Kerry Weems "estimates...will cost $3,000 per prescriber." While healthcare experts continue to lament the low adoption rate of e-prescriptions, some physicians note that e-prescription efforts can be hampered because "particular pharmacies do not accept e-prescriptions," Government Health IT (7/21, Ferris) reported. In addition, physicians cannot e-prescribe certain "controlled substances under Drug Enforcement Administration rules." Annual Meeting To Err is Human—But at What Cost? Date: September 23, 2008 Miller v. Allstate Amicus Brief Task Force The Health Care Law Section was invited to file an amicus curiae
brief with respect to the Miller vs. Allstate Insurance Company and PT
Works, Inc. matter. To determine how we can best represent the broad
and diverse interests of the Section, the Council filed a brief with
input from the Council, the Legislation Committee of the Council, the
Amicus Brief Work Group, and Section members. The brief was filed on
March 12, 2008, and can be viewed by clicking on the link below. The
Council and Section is grateful to the members of the Section who have
generously devoted their time and resources to the development of the
brief. A special thanks is given to the writing team consisting of
Margaret Marchak, Michael Philbrick, Leah Romano, and Dana Cilla from
Hall, Render, Heath & Lyman, and Joshua Moore from Trinity
Health-Michigan, as well as to those who provided comments, including
Thomas Trenta, Donna O'Connor, Amy Barkholz, Marta Hoffman, Keith Soltis,
and Arthur DeVaux. VSP Amicus Brief Task Force The Section formed a new task force to prepare and file an amicus brief with the United States Supreme Court in support of a Petition for Certiorari to hear the Vision Service Plan v. United States of America case. The amicus brief will state basically that the decisions by the United States District Court, Eastern District of California and the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit create great confusion in tax exemption law when compared to other precedent and should be addressed and clarified by the United States Supreme Court. The VSP Amicus Brief Task Force is chaired by Ann Hollenbeck. If you are interested in joining the VSP Task Force or have any questions about it, please contact Ann at ahollenbeck@honigman.com as soon as possible. Amicus briefs are due September 8th. IRS Releases Final Form 990 IRS releases final 2008 Form 990 for tax-exempt organizations and adjusts the filing threshold to provide transition relief. View the full article and form Recent Publication Health Care Law Section member Tom McGraw recently published the attached Michigan Summary of Fraud and Abuse Statutes & Regulations for the American Health Lawyers Association. It is an excellent summary of the law in Michigan. Copyright 2007 American Health Lawyers Association, Washington, D.C. Reprint permission granted. Further reprint requests should be directed to American Health Lawyers Association 1025 Connecticut Avenue, NW, Suite 600 Washington, DC 20036, (202) 833-1100. Redesigned Draft Form 990 Task Force The Redesigned Form 990 Task Force reconvened in April to prepare and submit comments to the Internal Revenue Service on its draft Form 990 Instructions. The comments of the Task Force were submitted on May 30, 2008. The Task Force previously prepared and submitted comments to the draft Redesigned Form 990 on September 12, 2007. Both copies of the comments to the IRS can be viewed in their entirety below. Many thanks to Cynthia Wisner and Ann Hollenbeck, co-chairs of the Task Force, and the many volunteers on that Task Force, for their time and hard work in preparing the comments on behalf of the Health Care Law Section. Redesigned Draft Form 990 Task Force Letter to Internal Revenue Service, May 30, 2008 Redesigned Draft Form 990 Task Force Letter to Internal Revenue Service, September 12, 2007 Health Law Index This web-based index contains selected regulations from the Michigan Administrative Code, Michigan attorney general opinions, and Michigan certificate of need standards relevant to health care. The index is designed to expedite research and serve as a convenient aid to persons interested in Michigan health law issues. [ More ] |
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