VENTURA COUNTY: Dual Leadership Roles Violate Medicare Rules
Adding to warnings that Ventura County's clinics fail to comply with Medicare billing regulations, federal officials "have notified Pierre Durand that his dual role as health care agency director and public hospital administrator also violates regulations," the Los Angeles Times reports. "We are continuing to work with the county and hope to mutually resolve this," Wayne Moon, a HCFA director in San Francisco, said. Meanwhile, the county has until June 30 to bring its organizational changes into compliance or else it will lose millions in reimbursement funds. Durand, who oversees the 1,700-employee Health Care Agency, also is an administrator of the county hospital, which is affiliated with 43 public health clinics, entitling the county to increased Medicare payments. The county received its first warning in April regarding the clinics' failure to comply with federal billing guidelines (6/10).
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