On or about December 5, 2011, a hacker accessed email accounts of employees of Metro Community Provider Network (“Metro”), a federally-qualified health center, and acquired 3,200 individuals’ electronic protected health information (“ePHI”) via a…
A frequent question from physicians is: What do I do if I have a patient who does not pay his or her bill? And for those physicians who are thinking ahead: What can I do to avoid having a patient who does not pay his or her bill? This article…
For the first time since its September 2010 introduction, CMS’ Self-Referral Disclosure Protocol (“SRDP”) is undergoing sweeping changes. Beginning June 1, 2017, parties using SRDP to voluntarily disclose actual or potential violations of the Stark…
In January 2017, we reported on CMS’ recent publication of a comprehensive final rule revising the conditions of participation (“COPs”) that home health agencies (“HHAs”) must abide by in order to participate in Medicare and Medicaid programs. This…
In order to maintain enrollment in Medicare, suppliers and providers must comply with Medicare program mandates, including the “enrollment requirements” detailed in Medicare’s conditions for payment regulations.[1] The enrollment requirements…
The Indiana Supreme Court recently held in Charles McKeen, M.D. v. Billy Turner that a plaintiff’s theory of negligence at trial need not be identical to the plaintiff’s theory in his or her submission to the Medical Review Panel (“Panel”), so long…
Do you have a corporate policy that governs your "protected communications" which may be sent or received through the use of mobile devices? If yes, does your Policy address each of the following "Top 10" requirements? Here's a checklist to…
The United States Department of Justice’s (“DOJ”) Fraud Section recently published guidelines (“Guidelines”) it will use when determining whether to bring charges against health care entities or individuals. While the Guidelines in no way represent…
On March 10, 2017 the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) published Advisory Opinion No. 17-01 regarding a hospital system’s proposal to provide free or reduced-cost lodging and meals to certain financially…
President Trump’s March 16 “America First: A Budget Blueprint to Make America Great Again,” proposes to cut $15.1 billion in Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) spending, representing a nearly 18% reduction in annual spending.[1] The…
HIPAA, as amended by HITECH, imposes significant requirements on those persons or entities who qualify as a business associate (BA) as a result of their access to protected health information (PHI) in the performance of services on behalf of a…
The Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (“OIG”) recently finalized new regulations (“Regulations”) impacting the anti-kickback statute (“AKS”) safe harbors and civil monetary penalties law (“CMPL”). Specifically, the Regulations…
