Articles and Blogs

On Monday, March 7 in an update to a Frequently Asked Question (“FAQ”) on the CMS website, CMS indicated that it plans to implement functionality that will allow Eligible Providers (“EPs”) to designate a third party to register and attest to meeting the meaningful use criteria on his or her behalf under the HITECH... READ MORE

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ (“HHS”) Office for Civil Rights (“OCR”) entered into a Resolution Agreement with General Hospital Corporation and Massachusetts General Physicians Organization, Inc., collectively known as Mass General (“Mass General”) to resolve a potential violation of the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of... READ MORE

On the judicial front, you’ll recall that U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson ruled in late January that the “individual mandate” provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“Affordable Care Act”) was unconstitutional, and declared the rest of the Act inseverable and void.  In that ruling the Judge stopped short of issuing an... READ MORE

Hall Render attorneys filled two tables at Indianapolis Business Journal’s 2011 Health Care Heroes event held March 4. Bill Thompson presented the Physician Award to Gregory P. Gramelspacher, M.D. IBJ solicits nominations from the public in five categories, and then a committee of judges from all facets of health care picks three finalists, including... READ MORE

Yesterday the Supreme Court unanimously decided that an employer will be liable for the bias of a supervisor even when the ultimate decision maker was not personally motivated by unlawful bias. This decision has enormous consequences for human resource professionals. Now, if an adverse employment action is taken based on tainted information provided by... READ MORE

Many large construction projects, including hospitals and health care facilities, utilize a Fast Track project delivery process. The goal of the Fast Track method is to bring a facility from concept to reality in a fraction of the time of a normal building project. Naturally, this process provides certain benefits and risks that an... READ MORE

On February 24, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service released a revised Schedule H (with corresponding instructions) to the Form 990, Return of Organization Exempt From Income Tax, which expands the reporting requirements for tax-exempt hospitals.  More specifically, the new Schedule H includes questions designed to monitor and enforce compliance with Internal Revenue Code Section 501(r), as... READ MORE

Hall Render announced the hiring of Shareholder Daniel F. Miller to the Milwaukee, Wisconsin office. Miller’s practice is focused in the areas of reimbursement, compliance and litigation, with a particular emphasis on Medicare and Medicaid reimbursement issues. He attended the University of Wisconsin, achieving his Bachelor of Arts in 1980 and his Juris Doctor... READ MORE

This year’s Indiana Super Lawyers include: Terry Heath, Doug Long, Steve Lyman, John Render, Kent Smith, Jon Spadorcia and Bill Thompson. Brian Betner, Erin Drummy, Kirk Jocham, John Ryan, Dana Stutzman and Craig Wiley were listed as Indiana Rising Stars. Super Lawyers is a listing of outstanding lawyers from more than 70 practice areas... READ MORE

On February 23, 2011, the Internal Revenue Service (“IRS”) released Announcement 2011-20 (“Announcement”) indicating the IRS will grant certain tax-exempt hospitals an automatic extension to file their 2010 Form 990 and supplemental schedules, including Schedule H.   More specifically, the IRS will grant an automatic three-month filing extension to tax-exempt organizations that operate one or... READ MORE