News Briefs: Government Updates

This roundup includes the following brief government updates:

Physician privacy concerns preclude a consumer group from receiving and publicizing Medicare physician claims data, according to a recent federal appeals court ruling. (33-page PDF; About PDFs.)

The ruling overturns a 2007 decision by the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia. The court said HHS had to release claims data to Consumers' Checkbook/Center for the Study of Services, or Checkbook/CSS. The company wanted to provide patients with information on the number of major procedures performed by Medicare physicians in Illinois, Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia.

HHS appealed the district court's decision on the grounds that the information would compromise patient and physician confidentiality without any real benefit to consumers.

The federal appeals court ruled against Checkbook/CSS, saying disclosure of claims data represents an unwarranted invasion of physician privacy.

On April 9, New Mexico became the latest state to enact medical home legislation, when Gov. Bill Richardson signed H.B. 710 (4-page PDF; About PDFs) into law. The measure directs New Mexico's Human Services Department to implement a medical home for patients insured by the state's Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program, as well as its State Coverage Initiative Program.

Officials plan to start rolling out the medical home model via a series of pilot projects during the next several months.

The new law designates primary care physician practices as medical homes, but, based on the state's medical and nursing practice acts, physician assistants and nurse practitioners also could direct medical homes in parts of the state where there are no primary care physicians.