Protecting the Integrity of Medicare Act (PIMA) Ready for House Floor

On February 26, the House Ways and Means Committee passed PIMA, a bill to prevent Medicare fraud that includes a number of reforms that can be beneficial to orthopaedic surgeons. Specifically, it includes increased outreach and education for providers by Medicare contractors and other program integrity efforts and requires that the HHS Secretary issue guidance on the application of the “Common Rule,” a priority for hospital-based registries like AJRR. Another bill which passed out of the Committee would exempt patient encounters in ambulatory surgery center centers from counting toward meaningful use requirements.