News Briefs - Senate Committee Advances Bill on 'Ghost Providers,' PBMs - In a unanimous 26-0 vote, the Senate Finance Committee passed a comprehensive draft package that puts pharmacy benefit manager reform and mental health...more
11/21/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cyber Threats ,
Cybersecurity ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Medical Devices ,
Mental Health ,
Nurses ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Ransomware
News Briefs - Lawmakers Reintroduce Healthcare Workforce Resilience Act - Federal lawmakers are trying again to push through immigration reform that would allow officials to recapture unused visas and reprocess them for...more
News Briefs - Biden Executive Order Aims to Bolster AI Security in Healthcare - The Biden Administration issued what it's calling a "landmark" executive order designed to help channel the significant promise and manage the...more
11/8/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Electronic Medical Records ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Information Blocking Rules ,
Medical Records ,
Physicians ,
Public Health ,
Ransomware ,
Regulatory Oversight
News Briefs - 2024 FDA Guidance Likely to Include AI, Cybersecurity - The Food and Drug Administration is ramping up production of medtech guidance, adding 18 draft documents to the list of priorities for its 2024 financial...more
11/1/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Technology ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Racial Bias
News Briefs - FTC Aims to Take Action on Non-Competes, M&A Enforcement - Healthcare lobbying organizations' efforts to carve out industry-specific exemptions in recently proposed Federal Trade Commission policies are...more
10/30/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Digital Health ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospital Mergers ,
Mergers ,
Nursing Homes ,
Patients ,
Physicians ,
Supply Chain
News Briefs - Google Cloud Unveils AI to Help Doctors with Search Capabilities - Google Cloud announced new artificial intelligence-powered search capabilities that it said will help healthcare workers quickly pull accurate...more
10/12/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
DEA ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Medicare ,
Nurses ,
Nursing Homes ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth ,
Telemedicine
News Briefs - Government Shutdown Could Greatly Impact Health Programs - The threat of a government shutdown is hanging over Capitol Hill, but so is the realization that gridlock could claim an array of health programs that...more
News Briefs - AHA Urges FTC to Pull Back Pre-Merger Notification Requirements - The American Hospital Association is among those pushing back against the Federal Trade Commission's plans to update pre-merger notification...more
9/27/2023
/ Artificial Intelligence ,
Cybersecurity ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Nurses ,
Nursing Homes ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - Feds Propose New Nursing Home Minimum Staffing Requirements - The nation's most thinly staffed nursing homes would be required to hire more workers under new rules proposed by the Biden administration, the...more
9/13/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Medicare ,
Nursing Homes ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Surprise Medical Bills
News Briefs - Drugmakers Prepare for Legal Battle Over Drug Price Negotiations - Major drugmakers have tailored a legal crusade against the Biden administration's drug price negotiation program that legal scholars say appears...more
8/28/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - Hospitals Report Major Drug Shortages, Many Rationing Care - As drug shortages near record levels in the United States, a new survey shows how widespread -- and serious -- the effects are. About 99 percent of...more
8/23/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Data Breach ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Nurses ,
Physicians ,
Popular ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Private Equity ,
Section 340B
News Briefs - Insurers Ignoring Rulings to Pay Surprise Bills, Doctors Say -Insurers are sometimes ignoring rulings to pay providers, or failing to pay them in full, under the arbitration system established by the new federal...more
8/18/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Data Breach ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Long-Term Care ,
Medical Devices ,
Nursing Homes ,
Price Transparency ,
Surprise Medical Bills
News Briefs - More States Introducing 'Conscience' Healthcare Bills - A new Montana law will provide sweeping legal protections to healthcare practitioners who refuse to prescribe marijuana or participate in procedures and...more
8/9/2023
/ Cybersecurity ,
Data Breach ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospice ,
Manufacturers ,
Medical Devices ,
Medicare ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Physicians
News Briefs - FTC-Proposed Merger Guidelines Could Slow Healthcare Deals - Newly proposed merger guidelines from the Federal Trade Commission could chill dealmaking in the healthcare sector, as well as increase the costs and...more
8/2/2023
/ Data Breach ,
Data Privacy ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Medicare ,
Mergers ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Price Transparency ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - States Investigate Nonprofit Hospitals' Lack of Charity Care - More than a dozen states have considered or passed legislation to better define charity care, to increase transparency about the benefits hospitals...more
7/20/2023
/ Acquisitions ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Digital Health ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Mergers ,
Nursing Homes ,
Physicians
News Briefs - SCOTUS Affirmative Action Ruling May Impact Healthcare Sector - Doctors are concerned that a Supreme Court ruling issued June 29 will have far-reaching effects not only on the diversity of doctors and other care...more
7/13/2023
/ Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Drug Pricing ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospice ,
Hospitals ,
Long-Term Care ,
Nurses ,
Physicians ,
Section 340B ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - High Court Rules Residents Can Sue Publicly Owned Nursing Homes - The U.S. Supreme Court preserved the ability of people to sue for civil rights violations under an 1871 law as it rejected a bid to prevent an...more
News Briefs - Debt Limit Deal Will Claw Back $27.1B in Unspent COVID Funding - President Joe Biden signed a debt limit deal that includes some minimal cuts for healthcare programs just days before the federal government was...more
In a unanimous opinion issued on June 1, 2023, the Supreme Court of the United States clarified the relevant standard for scienter — or knowledge — in False Claims Act (“FCA”) actions by ruling that an objectively reasonable...more
News Briefs - Inflation Causes Many Patients to Skip Doctors' Appointments - As prices go up generally, patients stay away from their physicians, according to federal analysts. In 2022, 28 percent of adults went without some...more
5/31/2023
/ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospice ,
Life Sciences ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Medical Devices ,
Nursing Homes ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physicians ,
Telehealth
News Briefs - WHO Warns Rapid Adoption of AI in Healthcare Could Be Dangerous - The World Health Organization is warning that the "meteoric" rise of artificial intelligence tools in healthcare threatens the safety of patients...more
5/26/2023
/ American Hospital Association ,
Artificial Intelligence ,
Breach Notification Rule ,
Federal Trade Commission (FTC) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Nursing Homes ,
OIG ,
Pharmacy Benefit Manager (PBM) ,
Physicians ,
Prescription Drugs
News Briefs - PHE End Brings Challenges for Nursing Home Operators - As the public health emergency (PHE) came to an end on May 11, industry leaders point out that nursing home operators are still in pandemic recovery mode...more
News Briefs - DEA Seeks to Extend Virtual Prescribing Flexibility as PHE Ends - After receiving thousands of comments asking for an extension of pandemic-era virtual prescribing flexibilities, the Drug Enforcement...more
News Briefs - CMS Enforces Hospital Price Transparency Rule with Fines CMS is cracking down on hospital price transparency compliance -- or lack thereof. The federal agency announced updated enforcement procedures, including...more
The United States Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit recently affirmed an order dismissing a qui tam False Claims Act (“FCA”) suit based on alleged violations of the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”). The appeals court agreed...more