University of Iowa Disputes Audit; MetroHealth Names New CEO; Wayne State Medical School Receives Grant
University of Iowa Hospitals Disputes Much of Medicare Audit
The University of Iowa Hospitals will refund $271,000 in overpayments it received from the Medicare program, but will dispute another $550,000 the federal government claims it owes.
According to data released last week by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Inspector General, 400 UOI Hospital claims submitted between 2009 and 2010 were reviewed by auditors, and issues were found with 274 of them.
Although the report acknowledged that the dollar amount in question represented a fraction of the $659 million the facility received from Medicare, the OIG said the facility did not have adequate controls in place to prevent incorrect billing.
The disputed claims involve 237 injections of Lupron, which is usually prescribed for cancer patients. According to the OIG report, the UOI Hospitals inadvertently double-billed for administering the drug.
The UOI Hospitals can appeal the ruling back to the Medicare program, or request a hearing by a federal administrative law judge if that is rejected.
Brennan Named MetroHealth CEO
John A. Brennan, M.D., has been named chief executive officer of Cleveland's MetroHealth.
Brennan, CEO of Newark Beth Israel Medical Center in New Jersey, will take over the 731-bed hospital and its 16 clinics and ambulatory surgical centers on Jan. 1. He beat out 40 candidates for the job, officials said.
“I look forward to advancing the programs that are already under way, including the expansion of the primary care network, enhancing the patient experience, implementing the Medicaid waiver, moving population health management forward and renewing our main campus,” Brennan said.
An emergency medicine physician by training, Brennan earned his medical degree from Georgetown University and a master's degree in public health from Columbia University.
Wayne State Medical School Receives $2.5 Million Grant
Wayne State University has received a $2.5 million grant from a wealthy alumnus to fund scholarships for its medical school students.
Mort and Brigitte Harris endowed the scholarship fund in order to address the high cost of medical school tuition and preserve Michigan's physician base. Forty percent of the state's physicians received all or some of their training at Wayne State.
“Economic realities often propel students to set aside their dreams of attending medical school,” said Valerie M. Parisi, M.D., dean of Wayne State's School of Medicine. "That's why the Mort and Brigitte Harris Endowed Scholarship Fund is so important; it provides scholarships so that the best and brightest students, and students with financial need, won't have to worry about costs. The long-term impact is not just more doctors with less debt but literally thousands of patients receiving care from highly skilled, compassionate and motivated physicians.”
