News in brief - Oct. 24/31, 2005

AMA trustee gets national health IT appointment - Medicare hires fraud fighters for new drug program - New flu, pneumonia vaccine requirements finalized - Fla. Supreme Court hears abortion lawsuit arguments - Ore. judge approves class action against hospital system

AMA trustee gets national health IT appointment

AMA board member Robert Wah, MD, has been named the No. 2 person at the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology until the position is filled permanently. Dr. Wah, a reproductive endocrinologist and director of information management for the military health system, will serve as acting deputy national coordinator under David Brailer, MD, PhD.

Dr. Brailer's office is helping to lead the government's charge in promoting the adoption of electronic medical records.

Medicare hires fraud fighters for new drug program

The federal government has signed contracts with eight private firms to weed out fraud in the new Medicare prescription drug program, officials announced recently. Already, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has received isolated reports of scams in which seniors have been asked for bank account numbers by people claiming to be drug plan representatives, CMS Administrator Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, told reporters.

Patients and physicians who suspect fraudulent activity can file a report with the Dept. of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General at 800-HHS-TIPS.

New flu, pneumonia vaccine requirements finalized

Nursing homes must provide influenza and pneumococcal disease vaccines to all residents if the facilities are to remain in Medicare and Medicaid, says a recent federal rule.

The final regulations from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services stipulate that nursing homes must offer the immunizations and related educational information to residents, who may refuse to receive the shots. Facilities must offer pneumococcal disease shots once to non-vaccinated residents and flu shots on an annual basis. Exemptions will apply to patients who cannot receive the vaccines for medical reasons.

CMS is also encouraging nursing homes to provide the vaccine for health care workers in the facilities, but this is not a requirement.

Fla. Supreme Court hears abortion lawsuit arguments

The dispute over a 1997 Florida law requiring physicians to inform patients about abortion risks has reached the state's Supreme Court. Justices heard oral arguments in September about the 8-year-old statute, which has never been enforced due to the constitutional challenge.

Lawyers for an abortion clinic and one of its physicians said the law's vague language violates doctors' due process rights. They also said the law, called the Woman's Right to Know Act, would deny women fundamental rights by making it more difficult to get an abortion. Trial and appellate courts have ruled in the clinic's favor.

The state brought the appeal before the high court, arguing that the law does not infringe on women's rights and the state should have the ability to require informed consent for patients "at any stage of pregnancy."

Ore. judge approves class action against hospital system

An Oregon judge approved class-action status in early October for a lawsuit filed on behalf of uninsured patients and accusing a Portland-based hospital system of overcharging them. The suit says Legacy Health System consistently billed uninsured patients at a much higher rate for services than it charged insurers. The hospitals named in the lawsuit are Legacy Good Samaritan Hospital and Legacy Emanuel Hospital in Portland and Legacy Mount Hood Medical Center in Gresham.

Attorneys representing the patients said the lawsuit is part of a nationwide case against nonprofit hospitals over the prices they charge the uninsured.

In his letter certifying the complaint as a class action, Circuit Judge Richard C. Baldwin said the plaintiffs have established that the hospital system "billed plaintiffs and proposed class members at their highest rates for medical services without disclosing those rates until after medical services are provided." However, he excluded from the class patients who applied for and received a charity discount.

In a statement, Legacy officials said the system charges everyone the same rate for services, but some insurers negotiate group discounts. The system also said it offers financial assistance to indigent, uninsured or underinsured patients.