Monitor Mondays

Recently, a federal court vacated the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services 2023 Risk Adjustment Data Validation (RADV) Final Rule.This action is reshaping the landscape for Medicare Advantage compliance. The rule had authorized contract-level extrapolation and eliminated the longstanding fee-for-service (FFS) adjuster — two changes that dramatically increased the potential scale of overpayment recoveries.Reporting this developing story during the next live edition of Monitor Monday will be senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen,The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.• Legisla

A recent case filed by the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) reveals how an insider was able to detect fraud in a large managed care organization (MCO).Although the topic of medical loss ratio (MLR) might be arcane to some, when the subject involves millions of dollars of potential fraud, it quickly becomes a large blip on the government’s fraud detection radar.More on this topic will be reported during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays. That’s when whistleblower attorney Max Voldman returns to the long-running Internet broadcast to report on how a payer, Inland Empire Health Plan, miscalculated its MLR in a scheme to rebate less money to the government than to which it was legally obligated.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Ri

Three whistleblowers brought a durable medical equipment (DME) provider to its knees.In two separate cases, the whistleblowers targeted Exactech, a manufacturer of total knee replacement (TKR) systems, resulting in a settlement of $8 million to resolve alleged violations of provisions of the False Claims Act (FCA).Famed whistleblower attorney Mary Inman, partner in the law firm of Whistleblower Partners, LLP, will report the excoriating details of the settlement during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.• Legislative Update: Cate Brantley

Healthcare compliance just shifted fundamentally.Traditional whistleblowers who needed inside access are being replaced by artificial intelligence (AI)-powered relators who mine public datasets and flag statistical anomalies that could signal fraud.The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) logged 979 qui tam cases in 2024, many of which were reportedly triggered by mathematical outliers, rather than insider tips. Government agencies, such as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), have already recovered $820 million using algorithmic detection.During the next live edition of Monitor Mondays, senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen will reveal a possible solution for hospitals, health systems, and physician practices.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the lat

Consider this a wake-up call.As artificial intelligence (AI) quietly becomes part of the audit trail, healthcare leaders must ask a new question: who’s reviewing the reviewers?During the next live edition of the venerable Monitor Mondays broadcast, contributing editor Sharon Easterling will break down why auditing AI tools are no longer a tech issue – they’re a documentation integrity and compliance priority.Although this is an important topic for all healthcare professionals, register now to learn why it’s particularly relevant for those in compliance and revenue integrity.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, will join the broadc

The Unified Program Integrity Contractors (UPICs) are household names in healthcare compliance.But their track record tells a troubling story, according to senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen. These Medicare fraud enforcement contractors are using controversial extrapolation techniques that providers successfully challenge over 60 percent of the time on appeal.Cohen, who will be the special guest during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays, said he will examine how the 2016 consolidation created five regional enforcement powerhouses, along with why their statistical methodologies are devastating practices based on flawed assumptions. Cohen intends to show how misaligned incentives are creating systematic accuracy problems, while revealing why the current UPIC system might be fundamentally broken, despite everyone agreeing that fraud prevention matters.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making

There just might be a reign of terror being experienced at many of America’s hospitals and health systems. Professionally delivered patient care apparently seems to be getting hijacked by auditors compelled to deny claims of omission.Aided by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and abated by auditors private and public, the lingua franca appears be an entanglement of descriptors, namely “inpatient versus outpatient.”During the next live edition of the venerated Monitor Monday broadcast, several of the most recognized names in healthcare will not add to the confusion, but offer advice for those on the front lines of battle.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholde

Although the lawsuit was filed by a pharmacist in New Mexico, a federal judge in New York has ordered CVS Omnicare to pay $949,000 to settle a False Claims Act (FCA) case.According to news sources, the Pharmacy Benefits Manager (PBM) allegedly prescribed drugs to individuals in long-term residential facilities that were not supported by valid prescriptions and then submitted claims for reimbursement for those prescriptions to Medicare, Medicaid, and TRICARE. Although a jury trial was held last spring, with the judge rejecting post-trial arguments by Omnicare, it is understood that Omnicare plans to appeal.Reporting details of this whistleblower lawsuit during the next edition of Monitor Mondays will be Max Voldman, a partner at Whistleblowers Law, LLP.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson M

Federal legislation has been introduced that is intended to help the beleaguered 340B Health organization via an effort to ban pharmaceutical companies from restricting access to the drug pricing discount program of the same name, through community and specialty contract pharmacies.Reporting this lead story as well as other updates from Congress and the Trump Administration during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays will be Maureen Testoni, CEO for 340B Health and a frequent guest on the long-running broadcast. Testoni represents more than 1,600 hospitals and health systems participating in the 340B drug pricing program.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law off

The rugged audit landscape has changed – and not for the better.Today, there are more potential pitfalls and traps to capture the unprepared and impact them with huge fines and possible incarceration. In fact, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has erected a legal fortress to protect their audit process. It’s not the same old ballgame – it’s a new one, with lots of new players.It’s also why the producers of Monitor Mondays have invited senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen to return to the broadcast to describe how you and your team can learn how to identify red flags in the process of fraud detection in order to avoid liability.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, sh

The Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) and Ambulatory Surgical Center (ASC) Proposed Rule for the 2026 fiscal year has been released.Tucked inside the Proposed Rule from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is the agency’s recommendation to phase out the Inpatient-Only List (IPO) over the course of the next three years.Reporting the lead story on this development during the next edition of Monitor Mondays will be longtime panelist Ronald Hirsch, MD.The weekly broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.• Legislative Update: Cate Brantley, senior healthcare government affairs analyst for Zelis, will report on the news happening at the intersection of healthcare and congressional action.

It’s a Medicaid Madness mess.For many years, Medicaid has been providing support for America’s most vulnerable populations. But now, Medicaid finds itself as a pawn, being manipulated for political gain between two opposing forces: those who view the program as a means to an end to reduce government spending, and those who hold the opposite point of view.Who will be the winners and losers? During the next live edition of the venerated Monitor Mondays, senior healthcare consultant Dennis Jones will report on how hospitals can save money in the face of the inevitable Medicaid cuts.Jones, senior director of revenue cycle at Jefferson Health, was among the first of hand-picked subject-matter experts heard nearly 14 years ago on the weekly Internet broadcast produced by RACmonitor.The Monday’s broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner

Looking back and looking ahead, we must reckon with a major shift in America’s judicial landscape: the elimination of the so-called Chevron Deference. Last year, at about this same time, physician and attorney Dr. John K. Hall was the special guest here on Monitor Mondays, and he began his segment explaining the legal concept.Now, more than a year after the U.S. Supreme Court’s landmark decision overturning 40 years of judicial precedent and upending statutory construction and enforcement, we must ask, has anything really changed?Dr. Hall will return to examine the changes – or maybe lack of changes – and what we might still expect regarding legal challenges to executive actions.The venerable broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: He

The Transparency in Coverage (TiC) Final Rule represents one of the most significant regulatory shifts in healthcare pricing since the implementation of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.During the next live edition of Monitor Mondays, senior healthcare analyst Frank Cohen will walk you and your team through the comprehensive labyrinth of changes.Recent enforcement developments, including President Trump’s Executive Order 14221, directing actual hospital price disclosure within 90 days, also signal an intensified regulatory environment requiring proactive compliance strategies.The venerable broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, w

Call it a trifecta, triumvirate, or the Triple Crown of 2025.“Fraud, waste, and abuse” is the current triple-negative buzzword in America’s lexicon. And it’s being used to describe lots of things. But when that phrase is used by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG), what does it actually mean?You’ll learn during the next live edition of Monitor Mondays.That’s when senior healthcare consultant Dr. Drew Updike – the broadcast’s special guest – will report on how the Acting HHS Inspector General (IG) Juliet Hodgkins used that phrase when she recently posted an online promotion in support of the OIG Spring Semiannual report to Congress.The venerable broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business

Clinical denials by payers for sepsis continues. The problem: the definition of the enigmatic condition does not meet their propriety definitions.Enter Dr. James Kennedy, who will be the special guest during the next live edition of the long-running Monitor Mondays broadcast. Dr. Kennedy will report on his recent conversations with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) National Center for Health Statistics, in which the agency described its protocols in amending the Index and Table to fit new diseases and terminology.The venerable broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, will join the broadcast with his trademark segment.• Legisla

The nation’s Medicaid program has seen better days. Recently, the federal government’s program to provide healthcare coverage to America’s low-income and vulnerable citizens was used as a bargaining chip as congressional Republicans were in the throes of budget negotiations, facing the daunting task to pass what President Trump calls his “big, beautiful bill:” a package of tax breaks disproportionately favoring the wealthy and spending cuts. The bill, which last week passed in the U.S. House of Representatives, is now making its way through the Senate.Then there was the announcement this midweek that the Deputy Administrator and Director of the Center for Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) Services, Drew Synder, was resigning from the federal agency.Reporting on these developing stories during the next live edition of the long-running Internet broadcast Monitor Mondays will be Drew Updike, MD.The venerable broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds:

During the next edition of Monitor Mondays, famed whistleblower attorney Mary Inman, partner at Whistleblower Law, will provide an update on a whistleblower case that some consider “beyond bad.”You’ll learn why a Texas rheumatologist who was sentenced to 10 years in prison and three years of supervised release was ordered to forfeit more than $28 million, plus 13 real-estate properties, a jet, and a Maserati GranTurismo sports car.Inman, long considered one of the nation’s foremost whistleblower attorneys, will be the program’s special guest during the next live edition of the venerable Internet broadcast, coming up at 10 a.m. EST on Monday, June 2, 2025.The long-running broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glas

Welcome to a strange new world.Recent tariffs announced by the Trump Administration are likely to impact drug manufacturing, since many drug components are produced outside the U.S., in nations such as in India, giving rise to state laws. Many states limit overseas involvement relative to the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). Florida, for example, prohibits the offshoring of certain patient data, requiring such storage to be within the U.S.Responding to this emerging crisis, the producers of RACmonitor and Monitor Mondays have invited Lexi Morrison, director of operations at MedPharma, to be the program’s special guest during the next live edition of the venerable Internet broadcast, coming up at 10 a.m. EST on Monday, May 19.The long-running broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of N

On the surface, it was the perfect scam: kickbacks to docs in exchange for public speaking engagements, in order to induce them to prescribe drugs.That’s apparently what Gilead Sciences thought.But a whistleblower blew the whistle, and Gilead admitted to paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to high prescribers of their HIV drugs to serve as speakers at programs at luxury restaurants.Famed whistleblower attorney Mary Inman, partner at Whistleblowers Partners, LLP, will report the savory details during the new live edition of Monitor Mondays, coming up at 10 a.m. EST on Monday, May 12.The long-running broadcast will also include these instantly recognizable features:• Monday Rounds: Ronald Hirsch, MD, vice president of R1 RCM, will be making his Monday Rounds.• The RAC Report: Healthcare attorney Knicole Emanuel, partner at the law firm of Nelson Mullins, will report the latest news about auditors.• Risky Business: Healthcare attorney David Glaser, shareholder in the law offices of Fredrikson & Byron, wi