Quality of Care: Top Concern for Health Lawyers?

PRESENTED BY;DAWN M. CARMAN, JD, RHIA, FACHE

DENALI COMPLIANCE GROUP, LLCT E M P O R A R Y E M A I L : D A W N C A R M A N @ G M A I L . C O M

( C O M PA N Y, W E B S I T E , A N D E M A I L A D D R E S S P E N D I N G )

Quality of Care: Top Concern for Health Lawyers?

Agenda

QualityCompliancePayersRegulators Enforcers

Disclaimer

The content of this presentation is for general education purposes only. It is not to be construed as legal advice. For specific questions and issue guidance, please contact an attorney.

Who Is In The Driver’s Seat?

Providers

Payers

Regulators Enforcers

Quality

Cost

Access

Consumers

Health Care Trends

Quality and patient safety Pay for Performance (P4P) Consumer driven health care Physician-hospital collaboration and competition Hospitalists Physician compensation arrangements Staffing shortages Heal yourself health care Retail clinic health care More regulations More enforcement

Quality

Quality Overview

Organized medical groups American Medical Association (1847) American College of Surgeons Hospital Standardization Program

(1917) Medical Group Management Association (1926)

Joint Commission (1952) Medical record audits (1966) Quality assurance (1979) Continuous quality improvement (1988)

Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) (1991) Measurable goals

No needless deaths No needless pain or suffering No helplessness in those served or serving No unwanted waiting No waste

Quality Overview

Leapfrog Group (1998) Aims

Reduce preventable medical mistakes and improve the quality and affordability of health care

Encourage health providers to publicly report their quality and outcomes so that consumers and purchasing organizations can make informed health care choices

Reward physicians and hospitals for improving the quality, safety and affordability of health care

Help consumers reap the benefits of making smart health care decisions

Baldrige Award Six Sigma Toyota Lean

Quality Overview

Institute of Medicine Report (1999)To Err Is Human: Building a Safer Health

System Increased national awareness of health care

quality Emphasized patient safety Supported mandatory error reporting systems Set performance standards Estimated 98,000 people die annually due to

medical errors

Source: http://www.iom.edu/?id=12735

Quality Overview

Institute of Medicine Report (2001)Crossing the Quality Chasm: A New Health

System for the 21st Century Outlined how to reinvent the health care system

to foster innovation and improve the delivery of health care

Outcome measures for health care Safe Effective Patient-centered Timely Efficient Equitable

Source: http://www.iom.edu/CMS/8089.aspx

Compliance

Compliance Overview State licensing (late 1800’s) FDA federal medication regulation (1906) Social Security Act standards for maternal and children’s

health care services (1935) Hill-Burton Act (1946)

Federal grants and guaranteed loans for hospital construction Medicare Conditions of Participation (1965)

Medical staff credentialing Utilization review Physician fiscal responsibility

Joint Commission “deemed” status (1965) Professional Standards Review Organization (PSRO)

established to decrease hospital utilization (1972)

Compliance Overview Prospective Payment Systems (1983) Peer Review Organizations (PROs) (1983)

Inspect and detect approach To reduce readmission and unnecessary hospitalization To lower death and complication rates To identify physician quality of care issues Physicians concerned that PROs generated more paperwork than

improvement Health Care Quality Improvement Act (1986)

National Practitioner Data Bank Medical malpractice claims settlements and awards Hospital medical staff adverse actions

EMTALA (1986) Medical screening examination Necessary stabilizing treatment Regardless of ability to pay

Compliance Overview

CMS (formerly Health Care Finance Administration) Health Care Quality Improvement Initiative (1992) Changed PROs approach to data collection, its

quality of care evaluation criteria, and its role in implementing quality initiatives

Focus on practice patterns Evaluate quality using national, disease specific

guidelines Work collaboratively with hospitals and

physicians on quality improvement initiatives

Source: http://www.cms.hhs.gov/

Compliance Overview

DHHS OIG Compliance Guidance For Hospitals (1998) 7 elements of effective compliance program No “one size fits all” Goals

Optimize payment Minimize billing mistakes (erroneous v. fraudulent

claims) Decrease chances of audits Avoid conflicts with Stark and Anti-Kickback statutes

http://www.oig.hhs.gov/authorities/docs/cpghosp.pdf

Compliance Overview

OIG Compliance Guidance for Individual and Small Group Physician Practices (2000) 7 elements of effective compliance program No “one size fits all” Goals

Optimize payment Minimize billing mistakes (erroneous v. fraudulent

claims) Decrease chances of audits Avoid conflicts with Stark and Anti-Kickback statutes

http://www.oig.hhs.gov/authorities/docs/physician.pdf

OIG Compliance Guidance for Nursing Facilities (2000)

http://www.oig.hhs.gov/authorities/docs/cpgnf.pdf

Draft supplemental guidance pending (2008)

Compliance Overview

DHHS OIG Supplemental Compliance Guidance For Hospitals Risk assessments A more thorough discussion of compliance fraud and

abuse risk areas Internal controls into processes http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/complianceguidanc

e/012705HospSupplementalGuidance.pdf

The False Claims ActFalse Claims Act (1863)

An individual who knowingly submit, or cause another person or entity to submit, false claims for payment of government funds are liable for three times the government’s damages plus civil penalties of $5,500 to $11,000 per false claim

qui tam whistleblower provision Examples:

A contractor falsifies test results or other information regarding the quality or cost of products it sells to the Government;

A health care provider bills Medicare for services that were not performed or were unnecessary, or;

A grant recipient charges the Government for costs not related to the grant.

AK no state false claims act

The False Claims Act

The False Claims Act is about more than money. It is also about discouraging fraud and changing the culture of corporate America. As Sen. Charles Grassley (R-IA) and Rep. Howard Berman (D-CA) have noted:

"Studies estimate the fraud deterred thus far by the qui tam provisions runs into the hundreds of billions of dollars. Instead of encouraging or rewarding a culture of deceit, corporations now spend substantial sums on sophisticated and meaningful compliance programs. That change in the corporate culture -- and in the values-based decisions that ordinary Americans make daily in the workplace -- may be the law's most durable legacy." 

Source: http://www.taf.org/whyfca.htm

Stark

A conflict of interest law (1989)Intent to keep providers from self-referring

patients for designated health services to facilities in which they have a financial relationship

Designed to keep hospitals and providers from defrauding Medicare

Penalties may include civil fines $15,000 - $100,000 or Medicare exclusion

Exceptions apply

Anti-Kickback Statute

Prohibits any knowing or willful solicitation or acceptance of any type of remuneration to induce referrals for health services that are reimbursable by the federal government (1972)

Criminal statuteFelonies with criminal penalties of up to

$25,000 in fines and five years in prisonCivil penalties can involve up to $50,000 in

fines and exclusion from federal program participation

Compliance Overview

Quality Improvement Organizations (QIOs) (2001) Expanded role of QIOs in quality improvement initiatives No published assessments of whether hospitals and physicians believe

QIO interventions are improving qualitySarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002

Impacts heath care organizations Applies to publicly traded health organizations Best practices useful for non-profit health organizations Impetus for enterprise risk management More reliable and relevant documentation is necessary for financial statements

and clinical quality measures US Sentencing Guidelines (2004)

Effective compliance and ethics program may reduce criminal sanctions Board of directors must be involved in compliance programs Adequate resources for compliance programs http://www.ussc.gov/press/rel0404.htm

Compliance Overview Deficit Reduction Act of 2005

Medicare and Medicaid Integrity Programs Gainsharing projects Hospital Quality Data Payment Update Program expansion http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DeficitReductionAct/

Tax Relief and Healthcare Improvement Act of 2006 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative 1.5% bonus for physician participants Quality measure registry reporting http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI/Downloads/PQRITaxReliefHealthCar

eAct.pdf IPPS and OPPS Cuts Continue

IPPS $20B cut AHA said an “unnecessary and demoralizing blow against

hospitals’ ability to care for patients across America” http://www.aha.org/aha/press-release/2007/070801-st-finalippsrul

e.html

What Do Payers Want?

What Is P4P?

Payment model that rewards hospitals and physicians for achieving certain performance measures for quality and efficiency

Value-based purchasingConcept prevalent in other industriesGets away from resource-based fee-for-service

reimbursement leaves little incentive for quality improvement

Providers concerned that Clinical practice guidelines have not undergone clinical trials Patient non-compliance is out of their control P4P will lead to broken physician-patient relationships http://www.mgma.com/

P4P

CA P4P Project (2001) Emerged from CA health care plans and physician

groups developing a set of quality performance measures and a public report card the 1990s Financial incentives based on utilization management

were changed to quality measures

P4P

National Voluntary Hospital Reporting Initiative (NVHRI) Set forth in Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 Public-private joint effort 21 quality measures

P4P

Medicare Quality Monitoring System (MQMS) (2003) Part of CMS efforts to monitor and improve the quality of

care delivered to Medicare beneficiaries Early warning system for declines in quality of care Quality indicators provided to Medicare beneficiaries Utilization and outcome quality measures (as opposed to

process quality measures) for many areas http://www.cms.hhs.gov/QualityInitiativesGenInfo/15_MQM

S.asp

P4P

Medicare Quality Monitoring System (MQMS) Based on administrative data Trends from 1992 though 2001 Various clinical and topic areas

Characteristics of Medicare beneficiaries and their utilization of health care

Acute myocardial infarction Heart failure Stroke Pneumonia Cardiovascular surgeries Cancer surgeries

P4P

Medicare Quality Monitoring System (MQMS) National and state-level outcomes (not hospital-

level outcomes) Adjusted to a standardized distribution of age and

sex; not otherwise risk adjusted http://www.cms.hhs.gov/QualityInitiativesGenInfo/1

5_MQMS.asp

P4P

Premier Hospital Quality Demonstration (2006) 260 hospitals 34 quality measures Public reporting of data 2% or 1% bonus (49/260 received a bonus) 2% or 1% penalty http://www.cms.hhs.gov/HospitalQualityInits/35_hospi

talpremier.asp

P4P

The Physician Focused Quality Initiative (2004) Implemented to

Assess the quality of care for key illnesses and clinical conditions that affect Medicare patients

Support physicians in providing appropriate treatment of the conditions identified

Prevent health problems that are avoidable, and Investigate the concept of payment for performance http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PhysicianFocusedQualInits/

P4P

Doctor's Office Quality Project (DOQ) Designed to develop and test a comprehensive, integrated

approach to measuring the quality of care for chronic disease and preventive services in the doctor's offices

DOQ goals are to Provide information for informed decision making support and stimulate the adoption of quality improvement

strategies by practitioners in doctor's offices CMS is working closely with key stakeholders such as

nationally recognized physicians associations, consumer advocacy groups, philanthropic foundations, purchasers, and quality accreditation or quality assessment organizations to develop and test DOQ

http://providers.ipro.org/index/doqit

P4P

Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) “A pay-for-performance program that conforms to certain

established principles can potentially make health care programs more effective and efficient.”

9 principles Goal must be to improve quality and safety Physician participation must be voluntary Practicing physicians must be involved in program design Must use evidence-based performance measures Must use adjusted data Must reward physician participation Medicare P4P must not be budget neutral Must reimburse physicians for administrative costs Physicians must be able to review and correct performance

data

Source: http://www.mgma.org

P4P

Physician Group Practice Demonstrations (2005) Mandated by the Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP

by the Benefits Improvement and Protection Act of 2000 (BIPA)

First P4P initiative for physicians under the Medicare program

Rewards physician for meeting performance measures for quality outcomes and efficiency

Disincentives for medical errors Focused on large group practices (200+

physicians) http://www.cms.hhs.gov/apps/media/press/release

.asp?Counter=1341

P4P

Medicare Health Care Quality Demonstration (2006) Medicare Modernization Act mandated 5 year

demonstration program Projects designed to enhance quality by

Improving patient safety Reducing variations in utilization by appropriate use of

evidence-based care and best practice guidelines Encouraging shared decision making Using culturally and ethnically appropriate care

Eligible participants include physician groups and integrated health systems

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/demoprojectsevalrpts/md/list.asp

P4P

Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) Voluntary pay for reporting program started in

2007 Based on the Tax Relief and Health Care Act of

2006 (TRHCA) Physicians collected and reported Medicare

practice data for 74 performance measures between July and December 31, 2007

Participating physicians reporting on at least three performance measures on 80% of the eligible patients through out the full calendar year will receive a bonus from CMS

Challenges for sole practitioners http://www.cms.hhs.gov/pqri/

P4P

Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) PQRI continues for January 1 through December

31, 2008 2008 PQRI quality measure specifications

http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI/downloads/2008PQRIQualityMeasureSpecs123107.pdf

CMS physician education article on PQRI http://www.cms.hhs.gov/MLNMattersArticles/downloads/

MM5640.pdf PQRI is considered by some experts to be a

precursor to mandatory pay for performance (P4P)

P4P

Physician Quality Reporting Initiative (PQRI) 2008 PQRI Coding For Quality Handbook provides coding

and reporting principles and describes successful reporting for each measure: http://www5.mgma.com/ecom/default.aspx?tabid=64&dest=htt

p%3a%2f%2fwww.mgma.com%2fWorkArea%2fshowcontent.aspx!id%3d15736%7cRef%3dhttpzx0zx1zx1www.mgma.comzx1policyzx1default.aspxzx2idzx415570

CMS and AMA jointly developed PQRI data collection worksheets http://www.ama-assn.org/ama/pub/category/17432.html

119 quality measures http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI/Downloads/2008PQRIMeasuresLi

st.pdf?agree=yes&nex http://www.cms.hhs.gov/PQRI/15_MeasuresCodes.asp#TopOfPa

ge

P4P

Medicare Care Management Performance Demonstration (2007) Modeled on the “Bridges to Excellence” program A 3 year P4P demonstration with physicians to promote the

adoption and use of health information technology to improve the quality of patient care for chronically ill Medicare patients

Physicians who meet or exceed CMS performance standards in clinical delivery systems and patient outcomes will receive bonus payments for managing eligible Medicare beneficiaries

Focused on smaller practices in 4 states http://www.cms.hhs.gov/DemoProjectsEvalRpts/downloads/

MMA649_DesignReport.pdf

CMS Quality Focus

CMS Hospital Quality Initiative Update Accountability Transparency

Hospital Compare www.hospitalcompare.hhs.gov

Patients get Quality information Patient satisfaction information Pricing information

OIG Quality And Compliance

DHSS OIG/AHLA Guidance (2007) Corporate Responsibility and Health Care Quality: A

Resource For Health Care Boards of Directors Designed for health care organization boards Consumers are demanding greater transparency and information

about the care they receive Medicare and other payors are linking payment to quality of care Physicians are striving to deliver the highest quality care Regulators are making health care quality a priority Offers questions related to health care quality requirements,

measurement tools, and reporting requirements that may be useful to those looking at quality of care issues

http://oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/complianceguidance/CorporateResponsibilityFinal%209-4-07.pdf

OIG Quality And Compliance

Board of directors oversight of quality of careDuty of careGood faithReasonable person Best interest of organizationReasonable inquiry standardBalance between second guessing and due

diligence

OIG Quality And Compliance

DHHS OIG/HCCA Long Term Care Quality Guidance

Driving For Quality In Long Term Care: A Board of Directors Dashboard (2007)

http://www.oig.hhs.gov/fraud/docs/complianceguidance/Roundtable013007.pdf

OIG Quality And Compliance

Board of directors oversight of quality of careDashboard toolsLegal perspectivesClinical perspectivesCommitment to qualityProcesses to monitor and improve qualityFocus on quality outcomes

Health Law Trend

Health Care Quality Tops List of Health Law Issues for 2008, says BNA Survey of Leading Health Law Attorneys

NEWS RELEASE

Arlington, Va. (January 7, 2008) – Patient care quality ranks at the top of the list of health law issues for 2008, according to an informal survey of health law attorneys by BNA's Health Law Reporter ™. Quality of care supplants fraud and abuse, which held the top spot for the previous two years.

Source: American Health Lawyers Association

Enforcement

EnforcementMedicare/Medicaid Conditions of Participation

The medical staff is accountable to the board to monitor quality Corporate Integrity Agreements Program exclusion

Joint Commission Deemed status substitute for COP Loss of accreditation

Government approach to improve quality in health care Public reporting Enforcing quality through the False Claims Act Incentivizing quality through payment reform

State Medicaid enforcement increases CMS increases Medicaid integrity programs See NY Medicaid Inspector General efforts http://www.omig.state.ny.us/data/

Enforcement

OIG, DOJ, and State Attorneys General Working together to enforce quality Focus on medical necessity and failure of care Penalties

$ fines Criminal sanctions Prison Federal and state program exclusion Corporate Integrity Agreements

FCA Prosecution Categories

Ordering medically unnecessary servicesPayments of kickbacksSpecial treatment for frequent admittersFraudulent documentationLack or failure of appropriate internal review

processesUnderlying regulatory violations

Source: C. Wagonhurst et al., Compliance and the Quality of Care Revolution, Health Lawyers News, Oct. 2007.

FCA Prosecutions

Automatically running a lab test whenever the results of some other test fall within a certain range, even though the second test was not specifically requested

Defective testing - Certifying that something has passed a test, when in fact it has not

"Lick and stick" prescription rebate fraud and "marketing the spread" prescription fraud, both of which involve lying to the government about the true wholesale price of prescription drugs

Unbundling - Using multiple billing codes instead of one billing code for a drug panel test in order to increase remuneration

Bundling -- Billing more for a panel of tests when a single test was asked for

Double billing - Charging more than once for the same goods or service

Upcoding - Inflating bills by using diagnosis billing codes that suggest a more expensive illness or treatment

Billing for brand -- Billing for brand-named drugs when generic drugs are actually provided

Source: The False Claims Act Legal Center http://www.taf.org/whyfca.htm

FCA Prosecutions

Automatically running a lab test whenever the results of some other test fall within a certain range, even though the second test was not specifically requested

Defective testing - Certifying that something has passed a test, when in fact it has not

"Lick and stick" prescription rebate fraud and "marketing the spread" prescription fraud, both of which involve lying to the government about the true wholesale price of prescription drugs Lick and stick: pharmaceutical companies sold drugs at a discount to HMOs but did not afford state Medicaid

programs the same rebates Source: http://www.namfcu.net/press/press-release-2003-04-16/ Marketing the spread: pharmaceutical companies discount physician-administered drugs then the physicians

charge government or private insurer more, pocketing the difference Source: http://usawhistleblower.com/reportpharmafraud.html

Unbundling - Using multiple billing codes instead of one billing code for a drug panel test in order to increase remuneration

Bundling -- Billing more for a panel of tests when a single test was asked for Double billing - Charging more than once for the same goods or service Upcoding - Inflating bills by using diagnosis billing codes that suggest a more

expensive illness or treatment Billing for brand -- Billing for brand-named drugs when generic drugs are actually

provided

Source: The False Claims Act Legal Center http://www.taf.org/whyfca.htm

FCA Prosecutions

Phantom employees and doctored time slips: Charging for employees that were not actually on the job, or billing for made-up hours in order to maximize reimbursements

Upcoding employee work: Billing at doctor rates for work that was actually conducted by a nurse or resident intern.

Yield burning -- skimming off the profits from the sale of municipal bonds

Falsifying natural resource production records -- Pumping, mining or harvesting more natural resources from public lands that is actually reported to the government

Being over-paid by the government for sale of a good or service, and then not reporting that overpayment

Misrepresenting the value of imported goods or their country of origin for tariff purposes

False certification that a contract falls within certain guidelines (i.e. the contractor is a minority or veteran)

Source: The False Claims Act Legal Center http://www.taf.org/whyfca.htm

FCA Prosecutions

Billing in order to increase revenue instead of billing to reflect actual work performed

Failing to report known product defects in order to be able to continue to sell or bill the government for the product.

Billing for research that was never conducted; falsifying research data that was paid for by the U.S. government.

Winning a contract through kickbacks or bribes Prescribing a medicine or recommending a type of treatment

or diagnosis regimen in order to win kickbacks from hospitals, labs or pharmaceutical companies

Billing for unlicensed or unapproved drugs Forging physician signatures when such signatures are

required for reimbursement from Medicare or Medicaid

Source: The False Claims Act Legal Center http://www.taf.org/whyfca.htm

Quality Case Law

See Redding Medical Center Unnecessary heart procedures FCA Settlement $54M Required divestment from corporate parent Corporate Integrity Agreement put in place

See Lady of Lourdes Medical Center Unnecessary medical procedures FCA Settlement $3.8M Corporate Integrity Agreement put in place

Source: C. Wagonhurst et al., Compliance and the Quality of Care Revolution, Health Lawyers News, Oct. 2007.

DHHS OIG

Going full speed ahead with enforcement efforts in quality of care

Sharing enforcement tools with statesDRA whistleblower rights awarenessData mining for reimbursement and quality

of careFocus on system failuresCorporate Integrity Agreements

Fiscal integrity Quality of care

Never events $

Data Mining

Technology to sort patient data to identify poor quality of care providers Looks for quality patterns Looks for fraud, waste, and abuse Hospital Quality Initiative Program for Evaluating Payment Patterns

Electronic Report (PEPPER) Comprehensive Error Rate Testing (CERT) Payment Error Rate Measurement (PERM) Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs)

Enforcement

Historical enforcement False Claims Act Stark Anti-Kickback Statute Corporate Integrity Agreements

New enforcement Deferred prosecution agreements Resolve criminal investigations

Cooperate with government Waive right to speedy trial and statute of limitations Take systematic remedial measures Independent monitor

Examples Medical device company paying consultants to use its products A medical center double billing Medicaid

Q&A