In a May 11, 2011, memorandum, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) reiterated its guidance regarding CMS’ Workers’ Compensation Medicare Set-Aside Agreements (WCMSA). The May 11, 2011, memorandum confirmed submission of a WCMSA proposal to CMS for review and approval is a recommended process. Historically, there have been no statutory, or regulatory, provisions…
Exposure to blood-borne pathogens presents unique risks in the work place. Workers in health care or in-resident home care are, on a daily basis, subject to the potential of disease transmitted by bodily fluids. These diseases range from methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), spinal meningitis, tuberculosis, hepatitis, to HIV. Given the ubiquitous daily potential for exposures…
Amid the nation’s ongoing and “unprecedented opioid epidemic”, (per the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services), on June 8, 2017, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested Endo Pharmaceuticals to voluntarily remove its opioid pain medication, reformulated Opana ER (oxymorphone hydrochloride), from the market. The request was based on concerns that the benefits of…
A ubiquitous problem in workers’ compensation patient care, as well as in the general clinical healthcare setting, is an individual patient’s use, and potential abuse, of controlled prescription narcotics. The Prescription Drug Monitoring Program (PDMP) is the State of Colorado’s secure, central electronic informational data base that records and tracks each pharmacist’s dispensement of controlled…
Reimbursement and Recovery – Medical Care Providers Increasing costs of medical care have created reimbursement and recovery incentive for providers. Often times medical care secondary to an injury, whether work related or otherwise, becomes the subject of recovery and reimbursement attempts by the providers, as the providers are not inclined to provide care that is…