On April 26, 2024, the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) issued a final rule to amend its Health Breach Notification Rule (HBN Rule). The HBN Rule works as a complement and counterpart to the breach notification requirements...more
Last week, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a final rule intended to implement a 2020 modification to the federal substance use disorder (SUD) privacy statute. The final rule more closely aligns the...more
On October 30, 2023, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released a...more
Two divisions of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) – the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) – released the "21st Century Cures Act:...more
On June 27, 2023, the Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) released its final rule (“Final Rule”) implementing penalties for information blocking....more
Florida has a new law as of July 1, 2023 relating to the storage of certain health records. The newly enacted Florida Statutes section 408.051 creates the “Florida Electronic Health Records Exchange Act.” The Act states in...more
The Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") has proposed amendments to the Confidentiality of Substance Use Disorder Patient Records Rule, 42 C.F.R. part 2 (the "Part 2 Rule") with a comment deadline of January 31....more
The Justice Department continues to pile up healthcare enforcement actions — false claims, anti-kickback, and fraud. DOJ is on its way to a record year....more
On May 3, 2022, the European Commission published a proposal for a Regulation on the European Health Data Space (EHDS) (“EHDS Regulation”, or “Proposal”). With the Proposal, the European Commission aims to make significant...more
The Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) protects healthcare beneficiaries from the influence of money in their medical decision-making. Overall, the AKS criminalizes renumeration “intended to induce patient referrals or influence the...more
While the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued the 21st Century Cures Act; Interoperability, Information Blocking, and the ONC Health IT Certification Program (Information Blocking...more
Enforcement in Life Sciences Series: Key Cases in 2020 Reflect Emerging DOJ Focus for Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Makers - About the Enforcement in Life Sciences Series - Recent settlements between the U.S....more
In this issue, we discuss U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regulation of wellness devices. We also look at good commercial contracting hygiene for digital health start-ups. Other articles include recent enforcement...more
On December 10, 2020, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Office of Civil Rights (OCR) collaborated on announcing proposed HIPAA changes, intended to “empower patients” and “improve coordination of...more
The Department of Justice (DOJ) and U.S. Attorney’s Offices have been quite busy settling False Claims Act (FCA) cases during the first month and a half of 2021. Two recent FCA lawsuits based, at least in part, on allegations...more
On January 19, 2021, significant changes to the regulations implementing the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the Physician Self-Referral Law (commonly known as the Stark Law) went into effect. The sweeping changes come...more
CMS and OIG released highly anticipated final changes to the rules implementing the Stark Law, the safe harbors issued under the Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS) and the beneficiary inducements provision in the civil monetary...more
On Friday of last week, HHS published two long-awaited final rules implementing significant changes to the regulations under the Stark Law and Anti-Kickback Statute (AKS). The two final rules are: (i) Revisions to the Safe...more
On November 20, 2020 the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of the Inspector General (OIG) issued two final rules to modernize and clarify the Physician...more
On November 20, 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) each published a final rule (collectively, the Final...more
Why It Matters - In order to safeguard their information, health care and life science organizations should remain vigilant in monitoring DHCoE developments and initiatives, including any policy/regulation clarifications...more
Aimed at enabling greater patient access and mandating interoperability, recent Final Rules from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (“ONC”) and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) have put...more
Health care providers looking for long-awaited answers to new proposed rules changes governing physician self-referral arrangements may have to wait a bit longer. ...more
A patient asks her doctor to send her test results to an app the patient has downloaded on her phone. The doctor worries that the app is not secure and that the patient might not understand the security risks. What should...more
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) requires all hospitals to meaningfully use certified electronic health record technology (CEHRT) as part of the Medicare Promoting Interoperability Program. Eligible...more