Earlier this month, the Connecticut legislature passed Public Act 23-171, “An Act Protecting Patients and Prohibiting Unnecessary Health Care Costs” (the Act). It is expected that Governor Lamont will sign the Act. The Act...more
Connecticut’s legislature has amended the state’s physician noncompete law to provide for additional restrictions on physician noncompete agreements. (Public Act No. 23-97). In addition, Connecticut has extended noncompete...more
President Biden announced that the COVID-19 national emergency and public health emergency (PHE) will expire on May 11, 2023. During the PHE, federal agencies were permitted to grant blanket waivers for certain health care...more
A recent Connecticut Appellate Court decision highlights the importance of health care provider attention to subpoenas involving patient information. In January 2018, our office published a summary of a then-recent...more
In response to COVID-19 vaccination mandates and employer-mandated vaccination policies, federal agencies continue to issue guidance. The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) and the U.S. Health and Human...more
10/28/2021
/ Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) ,
Employer Liability Issues ,
Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) ,
Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) ,
HIPAA Privacy Rule ,
New Guidance ,
OCR ,
PHI ,
Reasonable Accommodation ,
Religious Accommodation ,
Title VII ,
Undue Hardship ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
On January 21, 2021, President Biden issued an Executive Order on Protecting Worker Health and Safety. The order directed the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) to take action to reduce the risk that workers...more
6/16/2021
/ Biden Administration ,
Coronavirus/COVID-19 ,
Executive Orders ,
Healthcare Facilities ,
Healthcare Workers ,
Hospitals ,
Infectious Diseases ,
OSHA ,
Paid Leave ,
Popular ,
Recordkeeping Requirements ,
Reporting Requirements ,
Safety Precautions ,
Temporary Regulations ,
Vaccinations ,
Workplace Safety
In late November, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services and the Office of the Inspector General released their final rules revising the Physician Self-Referral Law (the “Stark Law”) and the Anti-Kickback Statute. The...more
On October 29th, just a few days prior to the Information Blocking Final Rule’s November 2nd effective date, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (“ONC”) released...more
We are just weeks away from portions of the Office of the National Coordinator’s (“ONC”) Information Blocking Final Rule (“Final Rule”) going into effect on November 2, 2020. While the Final Rule applies to health care...more
In the past 10 days, Governor Lamont issued a number of Executive Orders that continue to ease restrictions for health care providers, allowing increased flexibility for a greater number of providers to service patients in...more
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (“CMS”) has issued additional waivers allowing for increased flexibility during the COVID-19 public health emergency (“COVID-19 Emergency”). Of particular importance is CMS’...more
On March 28, 2020, in connection with the recently enacted Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced an expansion of its accelerated and advance...more
On March 23, 2020, the Commissioner of the Connecticut Department of Public Health (“DPH”) issued an order for the temporary suspension of the requirements for licensure, certification or registration of certain healthcare...more
Pursuant to Governor Lamont’s Executive Order 7B, the Office of Health Strategy (“OHS”) may waive certificate of need statutory and regulatory requirements for certain transactions, which are intended to increase access to...more
Based on the decision in a recent Connecticut Supreme Court case, patients may now sue physicians for breaching confidentiality. Previously, Connecticut did not recognize breach of confidentiality as a cause of action. ...more
On December 28, 2017, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a Survey and Certification Memorandum (S&C Memo) to clarify CMS’ position that it prohibits physicians and health care providers from texting...more
Although much of the latest Connecticut legislative session focused on the budget, and while fewer health care bills passed than we have grown accustomed to in recent years, we still ended up with a number of public acts...more
Since the WannaCry ransomware virus spread rapidly across the globe, businesses, both large and small, are again focusing on cyber-security. In a previous bulletin, we detailed five things that a business can do to help...more
Providers Beware: OCR Published Three HIPAA Settlements in Two Weeks, Signaling a Ramp Up of HIPAA Enforcement Activity:
Make sure risk assessments, business associate agreements and policies & procedures are in place...more
Cyber criminals are constantly seeking new ways to gain access to personal and health information and, on March 22, 2017, the FBI issued a specific warning to health care providers regarding threats to File Transfer Protocol...more
In May of last year, the United States Department of Health and Human Services ("HHS") enacted regulations implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act. These regulations aimed to enhance language assistance and...more
When Congress enacted the Bi-Partisan Budget Act of 2015 (the Act) on November 2, 2015, Section 603 of the Act effectively halted the development of any new off-campus hospital outpatient departments, also referred to as...more
Physicians and other health care providers receiving federal funding, including Medicaid but excluding Medicare Part B, are subject to new regulatory requirements implementing Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act...more
If company executives are discussing the terms listed above, then their company is likely to have experienced better days. However, if the executives are in the "C Suite" or are the Compliance Officer, Privacy Officer and/or...more
While Senate Bill 351, now enacted as Public Act 16-95 (the "Act"), received attention for the limits it placed on physician non-compete provisions, numerous other provisions of the Act are worth highlighting. These...more
5/27/2016
/ Health Care Providers ,
Hospitals ,
Investors ,
Licenses ,
New Legislation ,
Non-Compete Agreements ,
Notice Requirements ,
Patient Referrals ,
Physician Ownership ,
Physicians ,
Private Foundations ,
Reporting Requirements