At the close of the 2018 session, the Florida Legislature passed Senate Bill (SB) 675, which if allowed to become law by the Governor, will help hospitals and their facilities that are under common control manage their...more
3/19/2018
/ Controlled Substances ,
Drug Distribution ,
Florida ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hospitals ,
Pending Legislation ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescribing Authority ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Oversight
Prior to the Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) only “physicians” could dispense and prescribe narcotic drugs for maintenance and detoxification treatment. CARA expanded who may prescribe for maintenance...more
1/30/2018
/ Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act of 2016 (CARA) ,
DEA ,
Drug & Alcohol Abuse ,
Florida ,
Health Care Providers ,
Nurse Practitioners ,
Opioid ,
Pain Management ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Physician Assistants ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
SAMHSA
After Hurricane Irma made landfall in Florida, a nursing home in South Florida lost power, and several residents of that nursing home died allegedly as the result of increased temperatures caused by the loss of air...more
1/17/2018
/ Assisted Living Facilities (ALFs) ,
Disaster Preparedness ,
Elder Care ,
Emergency Generators ,
Emergency Management Plans ,
Emergency Rule ,
Florida ,
Health Care Providers ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Hurricane Irma ,
Natural Disasters ,
Nursing Homes ,
Power Outages ,
Regulatory Oversight ,
Regulatory Standards ,
Severe Weather
The Affordable Care Act (ACA), as a whole, did not have a significant impact on pharmacy services per se. However, a complete repeal would likely impact certain areas of pharmacy services including the drug benefit for the...more
1/31/2017
/ Affordable Care Act ,
Drug Pricing ,
Health Care Providers ,
Health Insurance ,
Healthcare ,
Healthcare Reform ,
Hospitals ,
Medicaid ,
Medicare ,
Medicare Part D ,
Patients ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Repeal ,
Section 340B ,
Trump Administration
During the 2016 legislative session, Florida granted authority to both advanced registered nurse practitioners (ARNPs) and physician assistants (PAs) to prescribe controlled substances, subject to approval by their...more
The Florida Board of Pharmacy (BOP) recently amended the rules regarding community pharmacy hours of operation to reduce required daily operating hours from 40 to 20 hours per week. As before, the hours have to be posted and...more
The 2016 Florida Legislature enacted substantial legislation (Ch. 2016-212, Laws of Florida) to bring Florida’s Drug and Cosmetic Act (Ch. 499, Florida Statutes) in line with the federal Drug Supply Chain and Security Act...more
4/20/2016
/ Drug Distribution ,
DSCSA ,
Exemptions ,
Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmaceutical Industry ,
Pharmacies ,
Prescription Drugs ,
Publix ,
Wholesale
Pharmacies, dispensing prescribers, and certain healthcare facilities in Florida will soon have an easier time complying with controlled-substance reporting requirements. Florida established its Prescription Drug Monitoring...more
Florida’s 2015 Legislative Session ushered in two new laws affecting pharmacies: One addressing pharmacist immunizations (HB 279) and the second clarifies that veterinarians are authorized to dispense compounded drugs and...more
7/13/2015
/ Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) ,
Compliance ,
DQSA ,
Drug Compounding ,
Florida ,
Food and Drug Administration (FDA) ,
Healthcare ,
New Legislation ,
Pharmacies ,
Pharmacist ,
Vaccinations ,
Veterinarians
The HHS Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) recently released Version 2.0 of its Guide to Privacy and Security of Electronic Health Information (Guide)....more
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, Office of Inspector General (OIG) recently refused to bless a specialty pharmacy's request to pay a per-prescription fee to retail pharmacies for "support services" to be...more
Below is a summary of the changes made by the Florida Department of Health (DOH) to the draft rules to implement the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014 (SB 1030)....more
The Florida Board of Pharmacy rules allow pharmacies to engage in office-use compounding. Rule 64B16-27.700, FAC. This allows pharmacies to compound drugs for physicians to use in treating their patients in the office without...more
In the waning days of the 2014 legislative session, the Florida Legislature passed the Compassionate Medical Cannabis Act of 2014. It is a very limited medical marijuana bill with very strict restrictions and conditions on...more
A new declaratory statement from Florida regulators clarifies the restrictions on intracompany sales of pharmaceuticals. Previously, if one pharmacy in Florida wanted to send a bottle of prescription medicine to its sister...more
Under Florida law a person may make an apology to someone injured in an "accident" or to their family without the apology being admissible in court. Thirty-eight other states have similar laws which are generally referred to...more
As previously reported, HHS announced earlier this month that it would be providing clarification on the HIPAA Privacy Rule as it relates to marketing and prescription refill reminder programs. On September 19, 2013, HHS...more
The HIPAA Privacy Regulations have long required covered entities to seek a patient authorization in order to use or disclose protected health information ("PHI") for marketing purposes. However, the Office for Civil Rights...more
The 2013 Florida Legislative Session concluded on May 3, 2013. The following is a partial summary of healthcare-related bills that may impact your business or practice. Note that some of these bills have become law, but...more
As we first reported in December 2011, it's a common scenario: A Florida nursing home resident dies, and his or her spouse, surrogate, proxy, or attorney requests the resident's medical records. However, if the nursing home...more
The public's concern about mass shootings spiked following the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy in December. As the nation searches for ways to prevent future violent acts, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services...more
On November 16, 2012, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services ("CMS") published a final rule making various changes to payment policies under the Physician Fee Schedule. Included in this rule is a new requirement that...more