Patient Records Requests: What You Need to Know
CMS’s New Actions Related to EMTALA - On January 22, 2024, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), it will launch a comprehensive plan...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have started a new effort to educate the public about the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act (EMTALA)....more
Beginning June 21, 2023, New York State (NYS) Public Health Law (PHL) Section 2830 requires hospitals and healthcare professionals to provide written notice to patients before the patient is charged a facility fee....more
We want to share our perspective about various legal and regulatory issues and business challenges affecting the healthcare industry from COVID-19, along with a few anticipated changes in the legal and regulatory climate. ...more
As of January 1, 2020, when a patient (or their representative) submits a written allegation of sexual abuse or sexual misconduct to a health care entity, that entity must report the allegation to the appropriate state...more
With all of the attention on Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) requirements to safeguard the privacy and security of a patient’s health information, covered entities sometimes overlook the HIPAA...more
Bayfront Health – St. Petersburg (Bayfront) and the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) entered into a $85,000 no-fault settlement agreement and one year corrective action...more
Yesterday, in the first settlement of its kind, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OCR”) announced that Bayfront Health St. Petersburg (“Bayfront”) has paid $85,000 to OCR and...more
The Idaho Department of Health and Welfare has implemented new patient rights rules for hospitals effective July 1, 2019. (See IDAPA 16.03.14.220 to .350). The rules were advanced by patient advocacy groups and, to a large...more
The application of EMTALA to psychiatric hospitals has long presented compliance concerns for psychiatric hospital providers. To provide clarity, the CMS recently released two memos that offer incremental additional guidance....more
The Emergency Medical Treatment and Active Labor Act (“EMTALA”) generally requires hospitals to provide emergency care to patients who come to the hospital regardless of their ability to pay. Hospitals that violate EMTALA may...more
Today, an increasing number of medical practitioners are recognizing the importance of providing appropriate, non-discriminatory, and patient-centered health care to people born with intersex traits. “Intersex” is an...more
It’s hard to believe a decade has passed since we delivered our first edition of Pro Te: Solutio to your door. Those years have brought enormous changes in the world and in our industry. Innovation has driven everything we...more
On April 1, 2018, a new Texas law, S.B. 11, became effective governing in-facility Do-Not-Resuscitate (“DNR”) orders. As defined, a DNR order instructs a health care professional not to attempt cardiopulmonary resuscitation...more
With the increase in mental and behavioral health patients presenting to emergency departments, hospitals often struggle with how to adequately and efficiently serve this patient population while complying with the...more
Healthcare providers often misunderstand their obligation to provide patient records in response to a request from a patient or third party....more
On June 2, 2017, Anderson, S.C.-based AnMed Health and the Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General entered into the largest settlement under the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act...more
After 30 years as a fixture in the federal healthcare regulatory landscape, the Emergency Medical Treatment and Labor Act—more commonly known as EMTALA—has been in the news again. In the past year, the U.S. Department of...more
CMS recently published a proposed rule to update certain of the hospital and critical access hospital (CAH) Medicare and Medicaid conditions of participation (CoPs). With its goals of modernizing hospital and CAH CoPs,...more
It is generally understood that if a managed care member utilizes the services of a non-participating provider, the member could incur significant out of pocket expenses. However, there are instances where a member may...more
This month Indiana, Illinois, California, Oregon, and New Hampshire join 11 other states with newly effective Care Advise Record Enable (CARE) laws requiring hospitals to give patients the opportunity to designate caregivers...more
Lessons From the Frontlines: Strategies for Supporting Informed Consumer Decision-Making in the Health Insurance Marketplace - Editor's Note: As marketplaces prepare for the third open enrollment period, consumers are...more