Articles and Blogs

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) is an independent Congressional advisory agency that makes formal recommendations to Congress in March and June of each year.  MedPAC was created to advise Congress on issues affecting the administration of the Medicare Program.  While Congress is not obligated to follow MedPAC’s recommendations, the recommendations are heavily considered.  This... READ MORE

The penalty for using Facebook or a cell phone at work can be more than termination.  Last month, an Oregon jury convicted Nai Mai Chao, a nursing assistant, of misdemeanor invasion of personal privacy for taking disturbing photos of elderly or disabled patients and posting them to her Facebook wall.  She spent eight days... READ MORE

CMS is hosting a National Provider Call on Monday, March 12, from 12:30 – 2:00 pm ET for eligible professionals (EPs), eligible hospitals, and critical access hospitals (CAHs), which will include an overview of the proposed rule for Stage 2 criteria for Meaningful Use under the Medicare and Medicaid Electronic Health Record (EHR) Incentive Programs. Registration Information:... READ MORE

This installment of Hall Render’s Health Law Broadcast series on health care reform is designed to provide you with the insight, analysis and practical suggestions with respect to the various reform initiatives that will affect your organization.    The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (“HHS”) recently issued additional guidance regarding the essential health... READ MORE

On March 5, 2012, the Health Resources and Services Administration (“HRSA”) issued a new Program Notice (“Notice”) that provides additional insight into the recent audits of entities participating in the 340B Program (“Covered Entities”).  The Notice, which HRSA characterizes as a restatement of current policy, represents the clearest public statement to date of HRSA’s... READ MORE

On Monday, March 5th, the American National Standards Institute (“ANSI”) issued its long-awaited report, “Financial Impact of Breached Protected Health Information” (http://webstore.ansi.org/phi/).  The Report provides a good summary of the current state of health data privacy and security in the U.S., HIPAA legislative history, and some potential measures that can be taken to strengthen the protection... READ MORE

The Health Information Technology: Standards, Implementation Specifications, and Certification Criteria for Electronic Health Record Technology, 2014 Edition; Revisions to the Permanent Certification Program for Health Information Technology  Proposed Regulations were published in their official version in today’s Federal Register.  Although these proposed regulations have been available in the unpublished format, the publication in the Federal... READ MORE

The Medicare and Medicaid Programs; Electronic Health Record Incentive Program—Stage 2 Proposed Regulations were published in their official version in today’s Federal Register.  Although these proposed regulations have been available in the unpublished format, the publication in the Federal Register begins the time period for submitting comments to the proposed regulations.  All comments to... READ MORE

As we approach the one-year anniversary of the ADAAA regulations, we have caught only a glimpse of the true effect of these legal changes. We have seen a string of multi-million dollar settlements from the EEOC involving class disability claims, culminating in Verizon’s payout of $20 million for an allegedly “illegal” and “inflexible” no-fault... READ MORE

On February 27, 2012 the FCC requested comment on whether to fund Universal Service Fund (USF) Rural Health Care Pilot Program participants who will exhaust funding allocated to them before or during the funding year 2012 (July 1, 2012-June 30, 2013).  This funding would maintain support for qualifying Pilot Program Participants on an interim... READ MORE