Articles and Blogs

 NATIONAL HHS launches payment model for ambulance providers Medicare ambulance rides may no longer end up at ER Healthcare billing fraud: 8 latest settlements 3 revenue cycle leaders on their hospital’s biggest concern now that standard charges are public 4 strategies for keeping your millennial healthcare workers Rural hospitals face widespread closures CMS can terminate…Read More

The legality and use of medical marijuana has been changing rapidly over the last decade. The rules for prescribing medical marijuana vary under state law, but the sale, possession, production and distribution of marijuana, or the facilitation of these crimes, remains illegal under U.S. federal law. This landscape creates uncertainty for many physicians but particularly…Read More

In SuperShuttle DFW Inc.¹, the National Labor Relations Board (“Board”) held that it would return to its longstanding and previously defined framework for determining whether a worker is classified as an employee or an independent contractor under the NLRA (“Act”). The issue in SuperShuttle was whether franchisees who operate shared-ride vans for SuperShuttle Dallas-Fort Worth…Read More

The Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) announced that a health system in California (the “System”) was required to pay a $3 million fine and adopt an extensive corrective action plan to settle potential violations of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”). The System operates several hospitals, including a rehabilitation hospital in…Read More

The EEO-1 filing website will open in early March. The filing deadline has been extended to May 31, 2019. Both dates were pushed back as a result of the recent, partial federal government shutdown. Luckily for employers, the controversial pay data disclosure requirements remain on indefinite hold, as we previously reported; however, covered employers still must…Read More

Government Funded After Congress Borders on Another Shutdown Congressional negotiators have reached an agreement on a funding deal that avoids another partial government shutdown that would have occurred at midnight tonight. The measure would fund nine out of fifteen federal departments through September 30, 2019. President Trump is expected to sign the legislation into law…Read More

Beginning April 1, 2019, Medicare Part C and D plans, PACE organizations and 1876 cost contract plans (“Plans”) will be required to deny payment for services rendered or prescriptions ordered by any provider on the new Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (“CMS”) Preclusion List. The Preclusion List, which was first made available to Plans…Read More

On January 29, 2019, the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion 19-02, which approved an arrangement allowing a pharmaceutical manufacturer to loan smartphones to financially needy patients in order to assist with medication adherence. OIG stated that it would not impose sanctions against the parties for violations…Read More

 NATIONAL How hospitals use biometrics to prevent patient ID errors, speed service Bonus pay for doctors can boost quality of care OCR sets record in 2018 for HIPAA enforcement actions Healthgrades names ‘America’s Best Hospitals’ 2019 Private equity pushes into healthcare: 9 latest deals 50 best healthcare supply chains in North America, rated by GHX…Read More

On February 7, 2019, the Office of the Inspector General (“OIG”) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services issued a report titled CMS Guidance to State Survey Agencies on Verifying Correction of Deficiencies Needs to Be Improved to Help Ensure the Health and Safety of Nursing Home Residents (“Report”). The Report found that seven…Read More