Articles and Blogs

Effective October 1, 2013, Texas Health and Human Services Commission (“HHSC”) will begin reimbursing eligible distant site professionals providing home telemonitoring services as a benefit of the Texas Medicaid Program, making it one of the first states to provide direct reimbursement for home telemonitoring services.    Such services will be reimbursed in the same manner... READ MORE

FCC Form 460 (Eligibility and Registration Form) is now available for use by health care providers (“HCPs”) to certify their eligibility to participate in the Healthcare Connect Fund (“HCF”) program. One form must be completed for each site. This includes each eligible HCP site, ineligible site, off-site data center and off-site administrative office. All individual HCPs,... READ MORE

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit is set to hear oral arguments this week in Verizon v. FCC. At issue is “net neutrality” and to what extent the FCC is allowed to regulate Internet traffic. The case is the latest stage in a long-running legal battle over the idea that Internet... READ MORE

On August 1, 2013, bill H.R. 2957 was introduced to the House of Representatives, which would extend health information technology meaningful use incentives to behavioral health, mental health and substance abuse professionals and facilities.  The term “additional eligible professional” would be added to meaningful use legislation to cover clinical psychologists providing qualified psychologist services. ... READ MORE

Health information technology solutions that are remotely hosted or cloud based are becoming more common.  In these scenarios, a health care provider  is allowing its data – often times including protected health information (“PHI”) – to flow through or be stored in the vendor’s data center.  If PHI is involved, the parties should determine... READ MORE

Under the Meaningful Use Stage 2 Measures both Eligible Professionals and Eligible Hospitals must use Computerized Provider Order Entry (“CPOE”) for medication, laboratory and radiology orders directly entered by any licensed health care professional who can enter orders into the medical record per state, local and professional guidelines.  Previously, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid... READ MORE

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality updated its website to include a new tool for eligible professionals and eligible hospitals to track the meaningful use requirements.  The tool, available here, consolidates published meaningful use guidance including both the “Objectives” and the “Clinical Quality Measures.”   Users can also download and create custom reports based on selected... READ MORE

Social media is becoming more and more prevalent and diverse, and entities in the health care field are encountering new issues related to social media.  Health care entities should have in place current social media policies to ensure that employees understand their obligations when it comes to protecting proprietary and confidential information. READ MORE

As we get further into the 2013 Atlantic hurricane season and experience more severe weather and wildfires, now is the time to review and refresh your IT disaster recovery plans and business continuity plans.  The Federal Emergency Management Agency Ready website and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services HRSA website provide example business... READ MORE

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General have released a set of proposed regulations that extend the existing protection from the Anti-Kickback Statute and physician self-referral law (Stark Law) for donations of electronic health records. READ MORE