If a person is injured by medical negligence, the injured person may have a medical malpractice claim and, if the person dies, the person’s family may have a wrongful-death claim. Over time, the Ohio General Assembly passed a...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) has proposed a new amendment that could significantly modify the standard governing identification of overpayments by providers....more
In an effort to ease achieving compliance with its newly instituted Hospital Price Transparency Rule, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has recently published three sample formats on its website for hospitals...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) continues its enforcement activities to emphasize compliance with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule’s...more
In a setback for Pennsylvania health care providers, the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania approved an order amending the rules pertaining to the venue in which medical malpractice suits may be brought. The Pennsylvania Rules of...more
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed that in prosecuting cases against physicians under the Controlled Substances Act (CSA), if the alleged physician demonstrates that his or her conduct is authorized per the CSA, the...more
During a second special session, the West Virginia Legislature approved House Bill 214, revising the prescriptive authority of advanced practice registered nurses (APRNs) and physician assistants (PAs). Previously, APRNs and...more
The Department of Justice recently reported that in fiscal year 2021, it received more than $5.6 billion in settlements and judgments. Of that total, over $5 billion relates to matters that involved the health care industry....more
The Supreme Court of Appeals of West Virginia recently decided a class certification matter that suggests trial courts must undertake a closer examination of the requirements for certifying class actions in West Virginia...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) issued guidance regarding the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”) privacy rule (the “Privacy Rule”) in the...more
10/8/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Entities ,
Disclosure ,
Employees ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
Healthcare ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
OCR ,
Personal Information ,
PHI ,
Vaccinations
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) message this year has been consistent – hospitals need to comply with CMS’ Hospital Transparency Rule. This rule requires hospitals and health systems to disclose a...more
The West Virginia Supreme Court issued a new memorandum decision which broadly interprets the scope of the West Virginia Medical Professional Liability Act, applying it to entities who were not recipients of health care...more
The Office of Inspector General’s (“OIG”) new Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”) regulations modify the safe harbor for personal services and management contracts (42 CFR § 1001.952(d)) in a manner that allows providers...more
5/24/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Management Contracts ,
New Rules ,
OIG ,
Personal Services ,
Physicians ,
Proposed Rules ,
Safe Harbors ,
Stark Law ,
Value-Based Care
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ (“CMS”) new final rule amending the implementing regulations of the Physician Self-Referral Law (“Stark Law”), in part, defines fundamental terms, such as “fair market value” and...more
A recent $100 million verdict serves as a grim reminder for health care providers of the risk of paying independent contractors to market services. In United States v. Mallory, et al., the United States Court of Appeals for...more
On February 24, 2021, the Office for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“OCR”) announced that it will not impose penalties against covered entities or their business associates that use online...more
3/4/2021
/ Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Covered Entities ,
Data Storage ,
Encryption ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
OCR ,
Penalties ,
PHI ,
Secure Scheduling ,
Vaccinations
A January 20, 2021 memo issued by the Biden Administration may freeze the implementation of the Stark Law and Anti-kickback Statute (“AKS”) final rules that went into effect on January 19, 2021. According to the U.S....more
2/18/2021
/ Anti-Kickback Statute ,
Biden Administration ,
Civil Monetary Penalty ,
CRA ,
Final Rules ,
GAO ,
Health Care Providers ,
Regulatory Freeze ,
Safe Harbors ,
Stark Law ,
Value-Based Care
On January 1, 2021, hospitals and health systems will be required to comply with Hospital Price Transparency requirements or face possible penalties from the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). This rule requires...more
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently issued two corresponding final rules amending the implementing regulations of the Physician Self-Referral Law (“Stark Law”), the Anti-Kickback Statute (“AKS”),...more
As the country prepares to end the fight against COVID-19, questions regarding the distribution of vaccines have understandably been at the forefront of the minds of Long-Term Care Facilities (“LTCF”). Indeed, those questions...more
12/10/2020
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
First Responders ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Legislative Agendas ,
Long Term Care Facilities ,
Nursing Homes ,
Patients ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
State and Local Government ,
Vaccinations
On October 20, 2020, the Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) settled two religious discrimination complaints involving access to clergy during the Public Health Emergency. Both complaints arose from a hospital’s failure to permit...more
10/30/2020
/ Anti-Discrimination Policies ,
Clergy Members ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
First Amendment ,
Freedom of Religion ,
Hospitals ,
OCR ,
Personal Protective Equipment ,
Policies and Procedures ,
Public Accommodation ,
Public Health Emergency ,
Religious Discrimination ,
Social Distancing ,
Virus Testing ,
Visitors
Under the HIPAA Privacy Rule, individuals have a right to timely access their medical records at a reasonable cost. With some exceptions, a health care provider must provide those records without reasonable delay and within...more
In its Summer 2020 Cybersecurity Newsletter, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services Office for Civil Rights (OCR) expressed a concern that organizations lacked sufficient understanding as to the location of their...more
9/14/2020
/ Asset Management ,
Compliance ,
Cybersecurity ,
Data Management ,
Electronic Protected Health Information (ePHI) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Breach ,
HIPAA Security Rule ,
Information Security ,
Inventory ,
OCR
On August 11, the Center for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") announced the creation of its new Community Health Access and Rural Transformation (“CHART”) Model. The CHART Model seeks to provide new seed funding and...more
In an attempt to reduce the risk of death from opioid overdose, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (“FDA”) issued a Drug Safety Communication recommending that providers discuss the availability of Naloxone, the opioid...more